“Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes
What’d life be without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can’t buy
And that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes”
(“Homegrown Tomatoes” was written by Guy Clark, go to end of post for You Tube video)
I cut the larger wee tomatoes in half and put them all on a baking sheet, drizzling good olive oil and sprinkling with crunchy sea salt.
As an afterthought I added a few garlic cloves & some thyme sprigs.
20 minutes or so of roasting at 400 degrees F does the trick. The tomatoes become slightly browned and collapse somewhat. The garlic is mashably soft. Into a bowl they go.
I cut the dried baguette into large chunks & placed it on the same roasting pan with the leftover garlic & thyme pieces. Pop this back into the oven for a few minutes to crisp. I let the bread cool slightly before tossing in the bowl with the tomatoes. This salad is best made ahead to let the bread soak up some of the juice and chilled or served at room temperature.
The evening we ate this salad for supper it was 93 degrees here in Nashville.
This simple tomato and bread salad, sometimes referred to as a Panzanella salad, served with a bottle of crisp, cold wine had the needed cooling effect. This heat we have been having is “nothin’ a homegrown tomato won’t cure”.
Homegrown Tomatoes & Crispy Bread Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 lb of homegrown tomatoes, small or large cut into smaller pieces
- fresh thyme & basil leaves
- 3 cloves peeled garlic
- sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
- good quality olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- freshly grated Parmesan Cheese for finishing off
- additional basil leaves for garnish
- “Old” Bread…baguettes work great, cut into cubes
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Scatter tomatoes on a baking sheet, add garlic cloves & thyme sprigs.
- Drizzle generously with olive oil. Dust with sea salt & black pepper.
- Put pan in hot oven & roast tomatoes for about 20 minutes or until they just begin to char & collapse. Remove from oven & scrape tomatoes & juices into a bowl.
- Add red wine vinegar & about 1/2 cup torn basil leaves into the bowl & toss well.
- Add bread cubes to the same baking pan, toss bread in any leftover oil. Bake for about 5 minutes to crisp. Remove from oven. Let cool.
- Add cooled bread to the mixing bowl with the tomatoes & basil. At this point you can serve at room temp or pop in the refrigerator to chill for later.
- To serve add a generous portion of freshly grated parmesan cheese & more torn pieces of basil and a glass of cold, crisp white wine!
recipe and photos by Teresa Blackburn foodonfifth.com teresablackburnfoodstyling.com
Click on the below link for Guy Clark singing “Homegrown Tomatoes”.
Yum! One of my favorite things.
Yes it is the time of the tomato….made me think of Guy Clark at the Exit In from years ago.
Love Tennessee tomatoes and that song!!!
Thanks Tony, Two of the best things ever…maters and that song.
No homegrown tomatoes for m this year, we are on water rationing and they never really grow that well near the ocean. But I can get the best homegrown tomatoes from my friend Robert. When I get back from Europe I will make this delicious looking salad .
Thanks goodness for friends like Robert…one who has tomatoes! Thanks Gerlinde.
Is there anything better than fresh out of the garden tomatoes no matter how theyre fixed? Yum!
No nothing is better I do not care what anyone says! It’s final! We agree. Thanks for coming by.
scrumtious…and look how young guy was!
He was so young and so were we! Thanks, as always, Terry B.
Teresa this salad is right gorgeous girl! I live for Panzanella salad in the Summer time. I even grill my bread and anything that needs cooking so I don’t have to turn on the oven……. 90 degrees is INSANITY. I love that you roasted the tom toms – it’s ridiculously and sultry(ly) delicious looking. I love it. Nicely done.
Kristy I appreciate your very nice comments. Suddenly we have a weather respite! It is only 82 today and feels marvelous. I am often jealous of the weather you have where you live. But we do have good tomatoes due to the scorching heat! That is worth it I suppose.
That looks amazing! Such pretty tomatoes. 🙂
There are so sweet and pretty as a picture! Thank you much.
I have been going to farmers mkt. two or three times a week for Bradley and heirlooms they are wonderful right now. I made a fresh tomato sauce today with basil and garlic. perfect. My favorite thing about Summer
Ooooh I love your fresh tomato sauce Lizzie. We are just having the best “Tomato Summer” in years.
that’s one of my favorite salads, I also add dried black olives to it and I use balsamic instead of red wine vinegar as I find it has a more robust flavor for the salad.
Yes Marian I usually do add a splash of Balsamic, but I am trying to get out of my “balsamic box” and going back to try some old standard flavors. The red wine vinegar really added a crispness to this salad that a heavier balsamic does not. But either one is just fantastic with all these summer ingredients. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Much appreciated.
This is so very beautiful! I enjoy the light in your photos. It makes me happy.
Emily Grace, thanks you so much for your nice compliment. I am lucky in that the light in the house I live in is just pretty fantastic all day long, all seasons. So some of my lighting is all nature’s work, with a bit of help from me.
And that’s the best lighting and living space! 🙂
tomato time is blissfully here. my garden is going wild with ’em—best ever. so unexpected.
and panzanellas rule. I love your roasted version as much as I love my Southern cornbread-ranch style.
Nance it really is the most fantastic year for tomatoes here in the South. Early rains, lots of warm nights have just absolutely given us all bumper crops in our little city gardens. Can you imagine what folks out in the country wake up to every day in their tomato patches? I know that I do love them and will eat as many as I can this summer and remember then fondly in the future in the not-so-good-mater-crop summers.
Panzanella salads are perfect for hot summer days and we bloggers seem to be in synch when it comes to variations on this salad that can only be made with good homegrowns in my opinion.
Your salad looks wonderful as you know I am just crazy about anything with cornbread in it. Our fellow blogger Charles Hunter over at “Local Forkful” just posted another version of our beloved Panzanella salad.
Lovely tomato photos my dear.
That was so great, and yummy tomatoes
Mmm… I would like to taste something of this, definitely. Btw. I generally love what I see on a website, just great 🙂 Keep going!