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Active Time
20 min
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Total Time
1 hr
The brown sugar in the ingredients list below is there to mellow the acidity of the tomatoes, not to make this a sweet dish. Use a sturdy bakery loaf of white sandwich bread, not the packaged sliced stuff, for the topping. You will get enormous pleasure from serving people this dish.
Ingredients
Makes 8 (side dish) servings
Step 1
Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle. Butter a 3-quart baking dish (about 13 by 9 by 2 inches).
Step 2
Drain tomatoes, reserving 1 cup juice, then chop.
Step 3
Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over medium-high heat until foam subsides, then cook onions with 1/2 teaspoon salt, stirring occasionally, until golden-brown, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, allspice, and cloves and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
Step 4
Stir in tomatoes with reserved juice, thyme, brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and briskly simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 20 minutes.
Step 5
Meanwhile, melt remaining 1/2 stick butter and brush onto both sides of bread. Halve each slice.
Step 6
Transfer tomato mixture to baking dish and top with bread, overlapping slightly. Bake until bubbling and bread is crisp and golden-brown, about 20 minutes.
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Reviews (26)
Back to TopSo delicious and comforting! The spices give it an old-fashioned flavor. Would be a great side with mac & cheese, or fried chicken, or meatloaf. A really really good recipe!
jansan1
Orange County, CA.
3/7/2017
Made as written except for substituting equal amount of fresh tomatoes for 1 of the canned tomatoes. Served with halibut and haricot verts. It was delicious! Used a sturdy french baquette on top - The smaller slices made serving a single portion a little easier. Leftovers were surprisingly tasty reheated with fried eggs for breakfast. Nice change from the usual side dishes. Love the rustic look.
Anonymous
Easygoing Foodie
2/6/2013
I substituted fresh yellow and orange tomatoes from the garden for the canned tomatoes. I just weighed them to equal 5 pounds. And I used garlic olive oil instead of butter. Oh my god! This was wonderful!
Anonymous
Palo Alto California
9/11/2012
I totally "get" this recipe... and I'm from Minnesota! To me this is one of the ultimate comfort foods. I like it warm right off a fork, it's delicious cold too. Leftovers reheat well. If I'm looking for a big comfort meal I LOVE this with fried eggs and baked polenta with a crumble of blue cheese. I think some of you are over-thinking this.
mmmfood5
Minneapolis, MN
6/23/2008
Simply Fabulous. The first time we made this, e ended up serving this without the bread, almost like a bruschetta, and it got rave reviews from our guests. Absolutely delicious!
ssheiny
Chicago
6/6/2008
This is a wonderful recipe for baked tomatoes. Notice that all of the people who didn't "get it" are not from the South? Hrmm. Perhaps they wouldn't "get" collards with pepper vinegar, fried squash, or hoppin' john either. If you like simple Southern food, you'll love these tomatoes.
maiathebee
San Diego, but with roots in Raleigh, NC
6/5/2008
My family really liked this dish. It's easy and a good way to get some tomatoes in the 10-1/2 months of year when "real" ones are not available. We ate the leftovers the next night and they were just as good.
Anonymous
My Kind of Town, Chicago
4/1/2008
I totally "got it". I thought this was an amazing dish; simple, delicious, incredible subtle flavors. I've made this twice and consider it a new comfort food.
amarina
Denver, CO
2/17/2008
Good taste, but not interesting. Basically tomato/pizza sauce (therefore good with cheese on top!). Disappointing.
julianaiwg
Bretagne, France
2/7/2008
It's like upside-down Bruschetta! I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned, but still prefer right side up 'Bruschetta'.
Anonymous
Florence, Italy
1/28/2008
I made this for my wife last night and she loved it. I didn't have a large casserole dish, so I had to halve the recipe. My wife doesn't like allspice or thyme (picky, isn't she!?!), so I wound up using a 28-oz can of whole tomatoes and a 14.5- oz can of diced tomatoes with green chilis. It had a lot of flavor and paired great with the tilalia I served with it.
DisneyDriver
Kissimmee, FL
1/24/2008
Pretty good but Lydia Bastianich's bread lasagna is better. Same premise though - add more herbs for a more flavorful dish.
Anonymous
Ridgefield CT
1/23/2008
I used olive oil instead of butter, and I topped the dish with mozarella and parmesean...
Anonymous
Denver
1/23/2008
VerY Yummy Recipe--says QA
koyel_abraham
1/22/2008
Very Yummy Recipe-- says QA
koyel_abraham
1/22/2008
