Ready in just 30 minutes, this flavorful dish is an interesting variation on eating the tomatoes raw. The leftovers are great, too! Tomatoes are lovely, whether raw or cooked. I adore them raw in tomato salad, cucumber tomato salad, Israeli salad, or Caprese salad. I also love them cooked, and this recipe is a great example. Cooking concentrates and brings out the tomatoes’ unique flavor, making them more savory than sweet. It’s a very different experience than eating them raw.
Ingredients
Variations
Instead of olive oil, you can use melted butter. It’s excellent! Add a handful of pitted black olives to the tomatoes and sprinkle them with crumbled feta cheese before baking them. Replace the thyme with oregano. I tried both versions and liked them both. Sprinkle the tomatoes with grated parmesan before baking - about 2 tablespoons. Add two tablespoons of capers. Garnish the tomatoes, after pulling them out of the oven, with chopped parsley or cilantro.
Storing Leftovers
More Tomato Recipes
Recipe Card
Cherry tomatoes: Try to pick ripe yet firm and bright red tomatoes. Minced garlic: It’s best to mince it yourself, but jarred minced garlic also works. Olive oil: High-quality olive oil adds a lovely flavor to this dish. Balsamic vinegar: This is such a flavorful vinegar. It gets caramelized as it bakes and becomes almost sweet. I don’t recommend using any other vinegar in this recipe. To season: Kosher salt, black pepper, and dried thyme.
Place the tomatoes in a medium bowl. Add the garlic, olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and dried thyme. Stir to coat.
Transfer the tomatoes to a small, 1-quart baking dish.
Bake the tomatoes until they are soft and beginning to burst, about 20 minutes. Let them rest for 5-10 minutes before serving them.
I often serve them with baked chicken breast, cooking the chicken and tomatoes in the same oven. They also make an excellent side dish to baked cod, pork roast, slow cooker beef ribs, and boneless short ribs.
Occasionally, I serve them for brunch with soft scrambled eggs and oven bacon or microwave bacon.
Sometimes, I slice fresh mozzarella and serve it with these tomatoes as an impromptu Caprese salad. It’s delicious!
