These baked tomatoes are so easy and so good you’ll find yourself craving them again and again. In this recipe, red tomatoes are scooped, seasoned and filled with parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Then they’re baked and briefly broiled until the cheese is melted and golden.
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Ingredients
- Tomatoes – Medium size tomatoes are best for this recipe. We used red tomatoes, they usually come with the vine still attached. They’re a good size and mighty tasty.
- Oil – Extra virgin olive oil works well with the tomato and spices.
- Spices – We’ll add extra flavor to the tomatoes with salt (we use kosher salt), garlic powder, dried oregano and black pepper.
- Cheese – Parmesan and mozzarella cheese make these tomatoes over-the-top delicious.
Recipe tips
Choose tomatoes that are ripe, but not overripe. They should still have a firmness to them. If they are too ripe, they will be tender and might tear with all the handling. We need them to hold their shape while scooping and baking.
I’m a fan of hand shredding cheese instead of buying pre-shredded. Like for these chicken enchiladas and a frito pie casserole hand shredded is the way to go. But, for these baked tomatoes packaged shredded mozzarella will work fine. Try to use whole milk mozzarella instead of part-skim because it melts better.
Prep work
- Preheat the oven to 400°F
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Add the salt, garlic powder, oregano and black pepper to a small bowl. Stir to combine.
Prepare the tomatoes
- Slice a thin piece off the ends of each tomato. Try not to cut through the flesh.
- Cut each tomato in half – in the middle, not end to end.
- Use a small spoon to gently scoop out the seeds. Try to leave the flesh undisturbed.
Pat the tomatoes dry and place them (scooped side up) on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Arrange them so that they are not touching. Give each its own space.
- Brush the tops and inside of the tomato with the olive oil.
- Sprinkle the seasoning mix evenly inside and over the tomatoes.
- Add ½ teaspoon of grated parmesan cheese to each half.
- Add about 2 heaping tablespoons of mozzarella cheese to each. Then, top each with a pinch of parmesan cheese and a pinch of dried oregano.
Bake and serve
- Bake the tomatoes for 10 minutes until the cheese melts and the tomatoes soften.
- Turn off the oven and turn on the broiler to low-broil to brown the cheese.
- Broil the tomatoes for 1½ – 2 minutes but keep an eye on them. Turn on the oven light and stay right next to it, peeking in often. The cheese will brown quickly and can go from lightly browned and beautiful to burnt in no time.
Serve the baked tomatoes as an appetizer or a side dish to your favorite meal.
If you like this recipe, you may also like these easy side dishes:
Baked Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 4 Medium Tomatoes thin slice of ends cut off, cut in half and seeds scooped
- 2 teaspoons Olive Oil
- ½ teaspoon Salt we use kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Dried Oregano plus a pinch to top each tomato
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 3 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese grated
- 1½ – 2 cups Shredded Mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Add the salt, garlic powder, oregano and black pepper to a small bowl. Stir to combine.
- Slice a thin piece off the ends of each tomato. Try not to cut through the flesh.
- Cut each tomato in half – in the middle, not end to end.
- Use a small spoon to gently scoop out the seeds. Try to leave the flesh undisturbed.
- Pat the tomatoes dry and place them (scooped side up) on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Arrange them so that they are not touching. Give each its own space.
- Brush the tops and inside of the tomato with olive oil.
- Sprinkle the seasoning mix evenly inside and over the tomatoes.
- Add ½ teaspoon of grated parmesan cheese to each half.
- Add about 2 tablespoons of mozzarella cheese to each.
- Top each with a pinch of parmesan cheese and a pinch of dried oregano.
- Bake the tomatoes for 10 minutes until the cheese melts and the tomatoes soften.
- Turn off the oven and turn on the broiler to low-broil to brown the cheese
- Broil the tomatoes for 1½ – 2 minutes but keep an eye on them. Turn on the oven light and stay right next to it, peeking in often. The cheese will brown quickly and can go from lightly browned and beautiful to burnt in no time.
- Serve the baked tomatoes as an appetizer or a side dish to your favorite meal.
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