Tomato Provencal
Posted by in Food
It’s that time of the year when the tomatoes pile up around the kitchen and I look for new ways to use them. I love, love, love fresh tomatoes. They are such a luxury after a winter of mealy, white tomatoes. Martha has a recipe for Tomato Provencal in September Martha Stewart Everyday Food.
You lay your sliced tomatoes in a dish and then pile a mix of breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme on top. You’re supposed to bake them in the oven. It sounded good. But it wasn’t. The breadcrumbs 
stayed dry and powdery. It was like tomatoes with sand on top. This is truly awful. If you’re going to bread your tomatoes, dip them in an egg wash first. Or use some olive oil and just a dusting of breadcrumbs so they become crunchy and wonderful. There were leftovers and I dusted them off the next day and heated them up in some olive oil and they were a million times better. There are so many wonderful ways to make tomatoes, don’t waste your time on this.
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I have made these many times and the haven’t looked anything like this. Sometimes Martha isn’t the best source for recipes
You’ve got that right! I can’t believe how bad this was. And it’s really hard to take fresh tomatoes and make them bad.
I make an alternative to this: fresh French bread slices with garlic butter spread on top, slices of tomatoes layered on next, topped with mozzarella cheese and fresh basil or rosemary or whatever herb you prefer. Bake that for a hearty snack or light meal. It’s yummy.
That sounds wonderful. Last year I was on a kick where I made grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches with Dijon mustard a lot.
I write a lot of recipes, and you can bet that if that got tested here, it would not have made it into print. Fewer bread crumbs, more olive oil. How sad to make great tomatoes bad!
LOVE Martha and Me!
Yes. It was just a total mess. This kind of thing is not hard to make and should have been a no-brainer!
Tomatoes only get sweeter after being in the oven, and this year’s crop in New England could do with some sweetening. I simply slice off the top, sprinkle with garlic and parsley, then a few breadcrumbs, and bake, a recipe I learned in France. Martha seems to have complicated things this time. I wonder if one of her helpers actually tried out the recipe?
I wonder that A LOT.
I say you can never have too many tomatoes in summer, and this looks like a great way to spice them up!
Another vegetarian recipe…love it!
I made this a couple of weeks ago and loved it! I think you should try it again using FRESH breadcrumbs (made in a food processor with fresh or slightly stale white sandwich bread/baguette/Italian bread, etc.) I probably did not add ALL of the breadcrumbs to mine as to avoid a bottom layer of crumbs that remain soggy, but we really, really enjoyed this dish. I think the recipe calls for fresh breadcrumbs, but looking at it again, it is not very clear. I really enjoy your blog, by the way. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Kristi. That is a really good point. I did cheat and use store-bought breadcrumbs. Some days it is just too exhausting to meet Martha’s standards! I’m glad to know it does work if you use fresh.