This wonderful side dish is made with tomatoes, basil, garlic, baguettes and loads of Italian cheese blend. Excellent for holiday fare like Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. It's a great company dish that everyone will drool over!
3lbs.Roma tomatoes, ½-inch diced6-8 large Roma tomatoes
1tbsp.minced garlic from a jardrained (or two cloves garlic, finely minced)
2tbsp.granulated sugar
2tsp.sea saltor kosher salt
1tsp.ground black pepper
1tbsp.dried basilor one-quarter cup fresh basil, chopped
1cupItalian 6-cheese blendshredded (Mozzarella, Romano, Asiago, Parmesan, Fontina and Provolone)
2tbsp.olive oil
Instructions
Cut baguette into cubes on a cutting board with a sharp knife.
In large skillet, sauté baguette cubes in 3 tbsp. olive oil about 5 minutes or so over medium heat.
Add tomatoes, garlic, granulated sugar, salt, pepper and dried basil and sauté between 10-15 minutes – enough to break down the tomatoes a little bit.
Remove from heat.
Empty contents into a greased 9x13” casserole dish.
Sprinkle one cup of the 6-cheese Italian cheese blend, or more, on top.
Then drizzle with 2 tbsp. olive oil.
Bake at 350º about 15-20 minutes until bubbly and brown.
Notes
NOTE: Fresh basil seems to burn very easily making the casserole looked scorched. So I swapped out dried basil for fresh in this recipe.NOTE: You can also substitute parmesan, romano or Asiago cheese for the six-cheese blend.NOTE: I used 4 cups of cubed baguettes, but you may prefer making this with less bread.NOTE: I decreased the original amount of fresh basil in the recipe (in case you use that), because basil has a very strong flavor and it will totally overpower the whole casserole if you use too much.
Recipe inspired from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, via Food Network.