Name: Baked Tomatoes with Crusty Bread
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 hr
Yield: Makes 8 (side dish) servings
Ingredients: 3 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes in juice; 3/4 stick unsalted butter, divided; 2 medium onions, chopped; 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice; 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves; 1 teaspoon dried thyme; 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar, or to taste; 8 (1/4-inch-thick) slices good-quality white sandwich bread such as a pullman loaf

Baked Tomatoes with Crusty BreadPhoto by Romulo Yanes

The brown sugar in the ingredients list below is there to mellow the acidity of the tomatoes, not to make this a sweet dish. Use a sturdy bakery loaf of white sandwich bread, not the packaged sliced stuff, for the topping. You will get enormous pleasure from serving people this dish.