Tomato season is here! Gardens are starting to produce homegrown tomatoes (at least ours is in Austin) and we LOVE these grilled tomatoes provençal. They are super easy to make and delicious every, single time. Use yellow and/or red tomatoes, a drizzle of olive oil, lemon pepper, grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano for an easy side dish, or an awesome vegetarian entree! This dish could also be made with cherry tomatoes for a sort of tomato provençal casserole.
You can certainly mix in sweet baby bell peppers as part of this dish. Just remove the stems and seeds, and then treat them the exact same way that you do the tomatoes. They cook in the same amount of time, too, so no adjustment necessary!
Most recipes for tomatoes provençal call for bread crumbs on top, but we have eliminated that ingredient, so these are perfect for a gluten-free diet or any diet. We love that. The other thing we love about this recipe (besides the amazing flavor) is that the tomatoes are cooked indirectly on the grill. We aren’t really sure if it makes a huge difference in flavor, but it sure does help to keep the house cooler, when the mercury is rising!
The juices that collect while cooking the tomatoes is rich and browned and makes a fantastic au jus to pour over rice, chicken, or even for dunking bread into. It’s sooooo delicious!
Tomatoes Provencal
Ingredients
- 4 whole tomatoes (red, yellow or orange) medium to large size
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. lemon pepper
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 2 tbsp. freshly minced herbs (basil, thyme, oregano or parsley, or a combination) optional
- 1 cup +/- freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano
Instructions
- Preheat all three burners on your grill to medium. Drizzle oil in the bottom of an aluminum pan.
- Clean tomatoes and slice the very bottom and very top off of the tomato. Then cut the tomato in half horizontally. Place the halved tomatoes in the prepared pan with the widest side up.
- Season with salt, pepper and lemon pepper. Drizzle a little more olive oil on top of spices. Sprinkle grated cheese over the top of each tomato half.
- Tent the pan tightly with aluminum foil if you want them juicy, and leave uncovered if you like the cheese to get a little bit crispy and browned.
- Bake on the upper rack on the grill for 20-25 minutes (+/- depending upon the heat of your grill), until tomatoes are tender, but still hold their shape, and cheese is melted. If your grill doesn’t have an upper rack, cook the tomatoes indirectly in the middle of the barbecue, with the two side burners on high, and the center burner off.
- If you don’t have a barbecue or grill, bake in a 400° F oven for 15-20 minutes.
- You should have a little bit of tomato broth in the bottom of the pan and you can either drizzle it over the tomatoes as you serve them, or drizzle over rice or meat, or use it for dunking your bread into!
