Cheesy Broiled Tomatoes
Bubbly cheese, a crunchy Panko topping and a caper tang are the essence of these Cheesy Broiled Tomatoes. A tasty summer side dish or appetizer.
This is a great way to jazz up cherry tomatoes or any tomatoes for that matter. The Dijon, basil and capers give it some depth and brightness while the cheese and buttery panko topping add richness and texture. All together, a very tasty vegetarian side that takes just over 10 minutes to put together.
I like to serve the cheesy broiled tomatoes over a bed of fresh baby spinach (for color and extra veggies) so I just scoop it off the pan with a spatula onto a platter lined with spinach. You can, however, make it and serve in a pyrex baking dish.
Try serving the tomatoes with Easy Maple Lime Salmon, Cedar Planked Chicken, Glazed Pork Chops or over pasta.
Tailor To Your Taste
- Instead of Gruyere cheese, use Emmental. Raclette or Jarlsberg.
- Use plum tomatoes, cut into smaller pieces, instead of cherry tomatoes. Fresh San Marzano tomatoes would be perfect.
- Try fresh oregano or thyme instead of basil.
- Use regular breadcrumbs instead of Panko.
- For an elegant touch, you can make individual portions using tomato halves. So pretty.
Make Ahead Broiled Tomatoes
- Prepare the dish up until the point of broiling. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to use. Then broil tomato dish and serve immediately.
Broiled Cherry Tomatoes with Cheese and Panko Crumbs Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cup cherry, grape or baby tomatoes, cut in half, seeds and some juice squeezed out
- 1 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoon minced green onions
- 2 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
- 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 cup (3.5 oz, 100 g) grated gruyere cheese (or raclette, emmental, jarlsberg)
Panko crumb topping
- 2 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Set oven to BROIL and position one oven rack 8-10 inches from the top.
- PREPARE TOMATOES: Line a small baking pan with foil and spray with oil. (Alternatively, spray a pyrex baking dish, about 9 inches, with oil.) Add halved tomatoes, Dijon, green onions and garlic. Mix to combine. Sprinkle gruyere cheese evenly over the top.
- PREPARE CRUMB TOPPING: Add all crumb topping ingredients to a small bowl and mix well to combine. If not using Parmesan cheese, add salt to taste. Sprinkle crumb topping over tomatoes and cheese dish evenly. At this point, you can set the dish aside to be broiled before serving.
- BROIL: Broil tomato dish 8-10 inches from the heat source (top) for about 3 minutes or until cheese is bubbling and crumb topping is lightly browned. Watch that it doesn't burn.
- SERVE: Serve directly from dish (if you used a pyrex dish) or, if using a pan, transfer to a shallow serving dish with a spatula. (I line my dish with fresh baby spinach or kale, then spoon tomatoes on top). Serve immediately.