It’s a bittersweet time of year this, as the summer comes to a close. Autumn is my favorite time of year. (Or at least it used to be before the advent of gas powered leaf blowers. Don’t get me started…) And yet, as I get older, I find that I appreciate summers more and more, with its longer days, easy going lifestyle and casual outdoor eating. And its wonderful produce, which begins to disappear from our local markets just about now. Among other things, it’s summer when you can find fresh tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes.
As we all know, tomatoes are omnipresent in Italian cookery, especially in sauces, but curiously there are surprisingly few traditional recipes where they take center stage. There’s tomatoes stuffed with rice or tuna—but even those are really as much about the filling as they are about the tomato. And then there’s Tomato Tonnato—which again is mostly about the tonnato sauce— and, of course, tomato salad. But that’s really just about it.
Here’s another one of those exceptional dishes that really lets tomatoes shine: pomodori gratinati, or Gratinéed Tomatoes. The tomatoes are cut in half, purged of their excess liquid, topped with seasoned breadcrumbs and roasted in a hot oven. Oven roasting softens the tomatoes and intensifies their flavor, meanwhile the topping browns and crisps up, creating a pleasing contrast in textures. The seasonings—typically garlic and fresh herbs, plus capers and anchovies if you like—perfectly complement and elevate the tomatoes without overwhelming it.
If you want to enjoy tomatoes for their own sake, pomodori gratinati is the dish for you. I can’t think of a more fitting way to bid farewell to the last of the summer crop.
Ingredients
Serves 6
- 6 medium-sized round tomatoes
- 150g (5 oz) breadcrumbs, preferably homemade (see Notes)
- 2 heaping Tbs capers, rinsed and squeezed dry
- 3-4 anchovy fillets, chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
- a few sprigs of parsley and/or basil, finely minced
- olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Directions
Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally. Scoop out the ribs, seeds and juices from the insides of each half tomato, taking care to leave the outside shell unbroken. After salting the insides of the tomatoes, drain them upside down on a rack for at least an hour. Chop up the pulp and set in a bowl with its juices.
Meanwhile, make your topping. Place the breadcrumbs in a mixing bowl and add the capers, anchovies, garlic, parsley and/or basil, salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Mix everything together and moisten to taste with a few spoonfuls of the reserved tomato pulp and its juices. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
When the tomatoes have finished draining, turn them right-side up and fill the insides of each tomato half loosely with the breadcrumb topping. Place them in a well greased baking dish or sheet.
Drizzle the tomatoes generously with olive oil and bake them in a hot (200C/400C) for a good half hour, or until they are golden brown on top.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
You can make pomodori gratinati with more or less any type of tomato other than very small ones like cherry or grape tomatoes. Francesconi calls for large, round tomatoes, but I actually find that medium sized ones work best, providing the most appealing tomato-to-topping ratio. Round tomatoes are easiest to deal with, but plum tomatoes, cut lengthwise rather than horizontally, also work fine.
Do make sure, however, that your tomatoes are ripe and full of flavor. The topping does provides savor, but it’s meant to complement the tomato not replace it. Your best bet for good tomatoes, as always, is your local farmers’ market or roadside vegetable stand. And (in my area at least) some supermarkets have a section for local produce.
Variations
As you might have guessed, there’s lots of room for playing around with the topping for your pomodori gratinati. The most basic versions are simple garlicky breadcrumbs, without the capers or anchovies. Some call for oregano rather than basil.
And then there’s the eternal question: cheese or no cheese? Many recipes call for grated parmigiano-reggiano or pecorino, but personally I think aged cheese is overkill for this already heady mixture. That said, a few cubes of a mild cheese like mozzarella, placed in the tomato shells before the topping, certainly wouldn’t hurt.
The exact amount of the topping can also vary a lot. It’s a matter of personal taste, really. Francesconi calls for only 4 spoonfuls of breadcrumbs for over a kilo of tomatoes, so you get just enough topping for a lightl sprinkling. But most recipes these days have you basically fill them up, which obviously takes a lot more. I prefer that approach, though since I leave the topping loose it doesn’t overwhelm the tomato by any means.
Making Homemade Breadcrumbs
Your pomodori gratinati will be exponentially better in both taste and texture if you use your own homemade breadcrumbs. Happily, in this age of food processors they’re super-easy to make.
But you do need to use the right kind of bread, the kind that goes stale after a few days. In the States, these are usually breads labeled as “French” or “Italian”. These breads are lean, i.e. they are made with flour, water, salt and yeast, without any butter or egg enrichment. And crucially, the bread must not contain any preservatives (typically calcium propionate, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate or sorbic acid) which—obviously—are added to prevent it from going stale. These preserved and enriched breads get moldy rather than go stale.
To make breadcrumbs from stale bread, cut it into smallish cubes, then whiz the cubes in a food processor using the pulse function. Break the bread down little by little until you have the consistency that you want. For this recipe, I prefer crumbs that are still quite rough, more like pebbles than sand. To this end, preferably the bread should be too stale to eat but not yet rock-hard. Rock hard bread tends to pulverize into very find crumbs. I like my topping to have some texture to it.
If you don’t have homemade breadcrumbs, then panko is better than standard for its texture, though you can of course use regular breadcrumbs in a pinch. Just make sure they are “plain”, unflavored breadcrumbs. You want to flavor them yourself!
Pomodori gratinati
Ingredients
- 6 medium-sized round tomatoes
- 150g (5 oz) breadcrumbs preferably homemade
- 2 heaping Tbs capers rinsed and squeezed dry
- 3-4 anchovy fillets chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves finely minced
- a few sprigs of parsley and/or basil finely minced
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally. Scoop out the ribs and pulp from each half tomato, taking care to leave the outside shell unbroken. After salting the insides of the tomatoes, drain them upside down on a rack for at least an hour. Chop up the pulp and set in a bowl with its juices.
- Meanwhile, make your topping. Place the breadcrumbs in a mixing bowl and add the capers, anchovies, garlic, parsley and/or basil, salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Mix everything together and moisten to taste with a few spoonfuls of the chopped tomato pulp and its juices. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
- When the tomatoes have finished draining, turn them right-side up and fill the insides of each tomato half loosely with the breadcrumb topping. Place them in a well greased baking dish or sheet.
- Drizzle the tomatoes generously with olive oil and bake them in a hot (200C/400C) for a good half hour, or until they are golden brown on top.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
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42 Comments on “Pomodori gratinati (Gratinéed Tomatoes)”
Just catching up as I was in Europe for six weeks (was in Italy when you posted this fabulous recipe!) Now I can’t wait for next summer’s tomatoes to make this recipe! Looks phenomenal, and yet another one I’ve never tried!
Welcome back! And yes, these are definitely worth a try, especially if the tomatoes are at their peak. (Alas, that seems like ages now…)
Beautiful! God bless our fields of tomatoes to make as many dishes as possible. This one is so beautiful and we shall enjoy them using the last fruits after we filled our pantries with spaghetti sauces……
Enjoy!
It’s a matter of time before everything gas powered will be blacklisted, they are so bad for the environment plus they are ridiculously loud. We adore autume too, particularly this October when temperatures are unseasonably warm (28° C today) but reality will happen at the end of the week. Hopefully the leaves will still turn beautiful shades of fall.
Your tomatoes look incredible, baking them will also help release their natural sweetness. What a lovely side. I think I will make them on Sunday beside some Ribeye Steaks for our dear friends.
I think you’re right about gas powered tools. As a matter of fact, our county just banned gas powered leaf-blowers. Hurray! Only there’s a rather lengthy grace period so people can replace their current equipment. So we’ll have to muddle through at least one more noisy fall…
Hope you liked the tomatoes!
Hey there! 🍅 Your post has me drooling over these pomodori gratinati. 😋 It’s amazing how such a simple dish can bring out the best in ripe summer tomatoes.
Thanks, Raymund!
It’s still summer here in California, there are strawberries and great tomatoes at the farmer’s market. This is a wonderful recipe. Thanks Frank .
And thank you for stopping by, Gerlinde!
I really like your tip of salting the tomatoes and letting them drain – much like eggplants. I absolutely understand your feelings about summer and fresh produce, but I still think fall is my favorite time of the year. However, you make a great point about gas powered leaf blowers…our neighbor seems to think Sunday afternoons make a good time for leaf blowing. I think Sunday afternoons are meant for quite afternoons on the back porch. Either way, I do need to try this recipe while we can still get good quality tomatoes at our farmer’s market!
It would seem you and I have the same neighbor. Not sure how that could be, lol! I wish people could get together and agree that at least one day a week we could have some peace and quiet. Anyway, do hope you like this one. Simple but really tasty if you have good tomatoes.
Perhaps you actually live 2 doors down from us and we haven’t realized it yet? 🙂
😂
Lovely Frank! This Pomodori Gratinati is a dish that truly celebrates the natural beauty and flavour of tomatoes.
Thanks so much, Neil!
This is a great dish and one I enjoy as a side to a grilled steak. But our tomato season is at an end, so I’ll log this one in to make next summer.
Ah well… I suppose the summer is a bit shorter up there in Sweden. But now we’ve joined the club. This morning it was (almost) too chilly to sit on the porch. Autumn is well and truly here.
You are so right! There is nothing like the taste of a “real” summer tomato and when summer goes so do the wonderful tomatoes from our backyards and farmer’s markets. Summer is always my favorite season especially for many of the reasons you mentioned. But I have to admit that now that I am retired, I do enjoy the cooler mornings and evenings of fall. Being snowbirds our fall is short and we are off to Florida Mid October. Your recipe looks really delicious and my husband would love it with the capers and anchovies !
Thanks, Judee! I do hope you try it. It’s a winner if your tomatoes are top notch.
So simple but one of my favorites. This is a good recipe to use when tomatoes are not in season. The roasting brings out the sweetness.
Thanks, Karen!
i like your additions here Frank, tho i don’t eat tomatoes. I like to stuff red capsicums instead 🙂
Thanks, Sherry!
Early autumn is probably my favourite time of the year (although any season has its own unique beauty to me). And these tomatoes? Nice! Packed with so many delicious and bold flavours and textures.
Thanks, Ben! I’m a big fan of having four seasons, too. Each one, as you say, has its own delights.
What a nice recipe. Thanks Frank for sharing. I love tomatoes and capers. I will certainly try your recipe. We still have good tomatoes here in Italy. Paola
Thanks so much for stopping by, Paola! Happy to hear the good tomatoes are still around over there!
Living where I do I also love autumn best – the winds are not as turbulent as in spring and our winters being very mild here there is no fear of what is ahead . . . As spring has just begun (albeit 34C today) we have time to wait ere we can make your beautiful tomate dish . . . give me a piece of sourdough and I shall happily make itt my main meal . . .
Yes, it’s always funny to think how the seasons are reversed depending on the hemisphere you live in. But that also means it won’t be too long before you can enjoy this dish in all its glory. 🙂
First, I cannot believe Mark didn’t commiserate with you vis-à-vis the leaf blowers — they are omnipresent here and they seem to ruin every morning on the patio!
We love your tomato tonnato — we have it at least once a summer, if not more often. And just last night we had a Provençal tomato tart. We are still getting wonderful tomatoes, so I will put these on the menu for next week.
You know the very day that this post hit, guess what my neighbor decided to do? And there are hardly any leaves on the ground yet… ! Anyway, I do hope you enjoy this one!
My father kept a vegetable garden and my mother kept an herb garden beside the kitchen door, and both kept flower beds all round. So I was very aware of seasonality, especially at the table. I knew the short Berkshire summer had ended abruptly with frost if I awoke to the scent of fried green tomatoes, and came down to find every surface in the kitchen covered with tomatoes picked in the dark after my bedtime. But winter brought favorites like baked apples, pumpkin pie, baked potatoes, home made apple sauce, baked squash, and main courses like pork with sauerkraut and caraway and apples (my maternal great-great grandmother was German, so maybe that dish can be traced to the trans-alpine tradition of butchering around St. Martin’s Day when the weather was cool enough). I’m always astonished by (and a bit saddened for) people who have never heard the term “seasonality” in relation to the kitchen and table, and have not experienced the poignant farewell to one season’s produce simultaneous with yearning for the coming season’s specialties.
I know, the loss of any sense of seasonality is really a shame. I know people who eat asparagus in the middle of winter, having no idea that it’s a spring vegetable. It’s a great convenience, I suppose, that you can buy most vegetables year round, but apart from the environmental implications, you lose something that’s important both culturally and, dare I say it, spiritually. Like you, I still remember and cherish how each season brings its own produce and wonderful dishes. Thanks for stopping by, Mark!
I must make these – I’ve got a French terracotta dish with “Tomates Farcies” written on the side! …and of course they look delicious.
Thanks, MD! Enjoy the recipe. 🙂
Great recipe. Good tips! Why not make your own breadcrumbs???!!!! I guess it was good being poor for a certain stage of my early cooking life. Not one thing got wasted or unused. Good lessons for life!
Why not indeed? Thanks for stopping by.
I’m sorry for you Frank, as I watch, in the southern hemisphere, my new tomato seedlings emerge, along with peppers and eggplant, in my carefully tended seed raising trays, as the days are warming up with balmy good times on the horizon! I’ll remember this recipe in the months to come! Winter was certainly long enough and it’s such a great feeling as I see the exuberance of spring burst forth!
No need to feel sorry, Pat. Although I do like the summer, autumn is still my favorite season. The loss of fresh tomatoes is offset by the appearance of other vegetables that I also enjoy. I love having four seasons. And yes, there’s nothing quite like the onset of spring after a long winter. And good luck with this year’s crop of summer vegetables! I”m quite impressed you grow them from seed.
They look divine! I usually stuffed them with tuna or meat.
Thanks so much, Angie!