Fresh Tomato Au Gratin

Jesse's twenty-ninth birthday is coming up next week — July 4th, the usual collision with a national holiday. Before that I want to write about this week, which was an ordinary week and which I want to remember specifically because it was ordinary. The garden is going. The Cherokee Purple tomatoes are setting fruit, green and fat on the vine. The pole beans are climbing. Kai counts them every morning. Luna follows Kai to the garden now, walking at his heels with her arms out for balance, and Kai talks to her about the plants the way I talk to him about them, explaining each one with the authority of a person who has learned something and wants to pass it on.

I watched them in the garden Saturday morning while I drank coffee on the back steps. Kai explaining the bean plants to Luna, who is sixteen months old and does not understand beans but understands Kai perfectly. He said: "These are the Cherokee ones, Luna. From the seed library. They have been growing a really long time." He was repeating what I had told him, in his own words, with his own four-year-old authority. The beans have been growing a really long time. That is accurate. That is also everything I have been trying to teach him, reduced to its simplest form by a child who is not trying to be profound but just is.

I made a venison and vegetable stir-fry on Thursday — not traditional, not indigenous, just what you make when you have venison in the freezer and a handful of vegetables from the garden and forty minutes. The Cherokee Purples are not ready yet but I had cherry tomatoes from a non-heritage plant, a handful of pole beans that were big enough to harvest, some zucchini from Terry's garden that she had pressed on me on Sunday. The stir-fry was quick and hot and simple and it tasted like summer, which is what June cooking is supposed to taste like.

Danny called Friday just to talk. He does this now — just calls to check in, to hear voices, to ask how the kids are. I told him about Kai and the beans. He was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "Good boy." Two words. The whole evaluation.

The Cherokee Purples aren’t ready yet — still green and fat on the vine, the way Kai describes them to Luna — but the cherry tomatoes are coming in, and Terry’s zucchini is sitting on the counter, and the whole week has had that particular quality of summer abundance that asks you to just cook simply and pay attention. This Fresh Tomato Au Gratin is what I keep coming back to when the garden is generous and I don’t want to overthink it: sliced tomatoes, a little cheese, a little heat, and the kind of honest, unhurried flavor that feels like the right ending to a week like this one.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 lbs fresh tomatoes (a mix of cherry and slicing tomatoes works well), sliced 1/4 inch thick
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded Gruyère or mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (optional, for serving)

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch baking dish or shallow gratin dish with olive oil.
Prepare the tomatoes. Slice tomatoes evenly and lay them on a clean kitchen towel for a few minutes to draw off excess moisture. This keeps the gratin from becoming watery.
Layer the base. Arrange half the tomato slices in an overlapping layer in the prepared dish. Scatter half the minced garlic over the top, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, and season with half the salt, pepper, and thyme.
Add the second layer. Repeat with the remaining tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and seasonings.
Make the topping. In a small bowl, stir together the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and Gruyère. Scatter the mixture evenly over the tomatoes. Dot the top with the small pieces of butter.
Bake. Bake uncovered for 20—25 minutes, until the topping is golden and the tomatoes are bubbling around the edges. If the top browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil for the last few minutes.
Rest and serve. Let the gratin rest for 5 minutes before serving. Scatter fresh parsley over the top if you like. Serve warm as a side dish alongside grilled meat, pasta, or crusty bread.

Nutrition (per serving)

Fresh Tomato Au Gratin — From the Garden, With the Kids Watching