Cherry Tomato au Gratin

When you think of a recipe that is easy to make with just a few simple ingredients, I think of cherry tomato au gratin as the perfect example. Try it, and you’ll see. There are no exact quantities, no precise method (everyone has their own recipe), but if you follow a few simple steps, you’ll get fantastic results.

Some time ago, when I started to dabble with cooking but especially with photography, I researched the most talented writers and photographic styles I could identify with. I literally fell in love with a series of books, and this one is definitely on the top of my favorites list: No-Recipe Recipes by Sam Sifton, the founding editor of the New York Times Cooking. It’s great because he explains how there are preparations that are difficult to quantify. Still, most importantly, it makes the concept of cooking something straightforward that everyone can put into practice improvising, simply with a shopping list in hand.

Improvising is good for Cherry Tomatoes Gratin

Sometimes it’s necessary to standardize recipes and make them exactly as they are written (for example when baking). And as Sam Sifton writes, “…you don’t need a recipe…it makes improvisational cooking easier than you think.”

Get inspired and experiment

How often do you happen to be at the supermarket and see something so tempting that you can’t help but buy it? It happens to me a lot in front of the vegetable counter. I see colorful, fragrant, seasonal vegetables, and I can’t resist. They’re in my shopping cart in the blink of an eye: tomatoes, cabbages of all shapes, leeks, and asparagus. I buy them and then try to compose recipes with what I have in my fridge.

How to pick your tomatoes

They come in various shapes and various colors. You can cook them in many ways. They can be in a pasta sauce, can enrich a baked fish fillet, or can become a colorful and tasty side dish. 

I don’t remember if cherry tomato au gratin was my grandmother’s or my mom’s idea, but it was a taste I remember vividly. No one ever had an actual recipe. It was enough to evoke the memory and try to reproduce the taste. You combine various flavors, herbs, breadcrumbs, good extra virgin olive oil, and put it in the oven. That’s it.

When you combine the ingredients you like, the recipes always come out different and hopefully always good, especially when there are quantities to consider and when the proportions change from one time to another.

The Tomato au Gratin recipe is perfect for

Any season as it goes well with any meat or fish dish or with very fresh mozzarella. It’s also a great way to get kids who don’t like vegetables to eat them.