Grilled Parmesan Tomatoes

As I keep mentioning, I have way too many tomatoes this year but I hate to throw them out. I needed something to use them up and I found this recipe for grilling them outside.
The idea behind grilling the tomatoes is that they caramelize and get sweet, much like onions do when grilled. The herbs that you coat it with add so much flavor and the parmesan is the icing on the cake.

 Start with as many tomatoes as you like. Any plum style is fine. Wash them well then cut off the stem ends. I save the guts for my spaghetti sauces but you can discard them. Check out the  My First Salsa recipe to see the best way to cut them.
Then I lightly coat them with olive oil so the herbs will stick. I have an olive oil sprayer I really like but this time I used a pastry brush (guys, it's really just a cheap 1" paintbrush) I keep several for basting and coating.
Take a saute pan and add some more olive oil, some salt to taste, rosemary and some onion powder. Mix it well and brush it liberally all over your tomatoes.
Now heat your grill. Crank it right to the max, because we're cooking these bad boys. 
I started by cooking them face up and let them cook a bit before flipping. Then I flipped them over and let them bake awhile. 

In other recipes, I notice they don't grill both sides, but hey, more is better, right? Here's how they looked after flipping.
They don't look too good yet but here comes the cheese! Instead of sawdust coated packaged cheese, I buy the imported Parmesan ends at the local deli.
 Instead of paying $18.99/lb, I get them for $3.99/lb! The difference in quality is obvious and it amazes me how much grated cheese they leave on those ends.

 I just run them through my grater and get gobs of fresh cheese. Why spend the money if you don't have to? Not only that, the quality is so much better. Go nuts with the cheese and fill each half. Grill them on high until the cheese is melted and the edges start to char. I tend to let things cook a bit more.














They came out very well, and sure enough, they sweeten right up like tomato candy. I will keep this recipe for my next summer get together. If you have some fresh parsley, you can garnish them.





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