Since this is proving to be the winter that just will not end, I’m leaning in to all of my favorite comfort foods and even trying a few new ones. This baked tomato mozzarella dish is making me feel a lot better about the piles of snow I have to maneuver around everytime I step outside. There’s nothing like melty, cheesy goodness to make a gray, winter day feel bright and sunny.
Try this Baked Tomato Mozzarella recipe yourself. It’s hearty and robust and perfect for this cold weather. But the highlight of the dish is the tomato flavor which offers a distant hope that Spring might actually be around the corner – somewhere.
And since my garden is buried under eight feet of snow, I used canned tomatoes in the recipe. It’s okay, planting time will once again return and all of our gardens will be bursting with fresh vegetable goodness. But until then, this is satisfying my tomato cravings really well!!
Baked Tomato Mozzarella
Ingredients
- 2 14.5 ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes, or 1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and sliced
- 4 cups soft bread cubes
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 4 strips bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350o F. Gather your ingredients.
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In a greased 12x8x2 inch-baking dish place a single layer of whole peeled tomatoes.
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In a large mixing bowl, combine bread cubes, two cups of mozzarella cheese, bacon, butter, celery, onion, eggs, garlic salt, oregano and basil; mix well. Spoon mixture over the tomatoes.
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Top with remaining tomatoes; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until heated all the way through.
This dish makes a great side dish to just about any meal. It pairs especially well with anything Italian themed and is so simple to make!
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This is some seriously good looking comfort food. My whole family enjoyed this!
Thank you Kylee!! That is high praise coming from an accomplished cook like yourself! I’m glad everyone enjoyed it 🙂