French style baked tomatoes

France is meant for his beauty & food. One such wonderful dish is "Tomatoes a la Provencale" which means baked tomatoes in breadcrumbs & garlic. One of the fav starter for pravin, to whom I m dedicating this tooo:)

He likes this, especially when garnished with melted cheese on top. It taste awesome, with cheese & herbs in the softened tomatoes.

This serve as a different starter & its quite easy to prepare with ingredients in hand. Yeah! we can add some more spices (optional) like chilly powder & garam masala to bring the Indian touch. This would be a great treat for vegetarians.

To make it rich, can serve with cheese (bake it for further 3 min (till cheese melts)). It taste YUM !!!!

Ingredients :

1. 6 firm ripe fleshy tomatoes (about 2 lb)
2. 1/4 cup olive oil
3. 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
4. 2 tbsp minced fresh basil leaves
5. 2 tbsp minced fresh parsley leaves
6. 1 clove garlic, mashed
7. 3 tbsp minced shallots
8. Salt and pepper
9. Pinch of thyme

Directions to cook :

• Preheat your oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Remove the stems of the tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes in two half. Squeeze out seeds and juice. Add salt and pepper.


• Blend the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl. Fill each of the tomatoes with the mixture. Sprinkle the tomatoes with olive oil.


• In a baking dish arrange the tomatoes not too close from each other.


• Bake the tomatoes in the oven at 400º (200ºC) for 15 minutes max.

Serve as a starter or as a side dish.