Looking for a stunning side dish? This Upside Down Cornbread with Parmesan Tomatoes is a delicious, crunchy, and healthy cornbread.
This position was created in collaboration with farms in the village. All opinions are ours.
It’s that time of year again to gather and hold our loved ones. This Thanksgiving is even more special for Alex and I as we have a new loved one to introduce to holiday traditions: Have breakfast to the sound of the New York parade. The smell of freshly cut celery for stuffing. A long table with white linens and glasses for company use only. Now that our son Larson is part of the family, we hope to combine some of those traditions and create our own. Instead of a heavy traditional meal, we’re focusing on colorful, creative, delicious, and nutritious Thanksgiving recipes.
Maybe you’re wondering about this recipe with fresh tomatoes in mid-November? Tomatoes are long gone in Indiana and I’m already dreaming of flip flops and a fresh summer Caprese salad. Normally I wouldn’t get caught eating a fresh tomato at this time of year. However, some new growing practices can extend the tomato season while treading the earth gently. Alex and I support local producers as much as possible. At the same time, we recognize that we need diversity in food culture to feed our world. We need sustainable and environmentally conscious companies everywhere.
Related: The 15 best recipes for fresh tomatoes
What are hydroponic tomatoes?
The tomatoes we used here are grown by Village Farms who use hydroponics in a greenhouse (growing in water), which helps extend the season. For us, Village Farms’ sustainable growing practices make their tomatoes a viable option for us to opt for fresh tomatoes in November. These growing methods result in ripe, juicy, flavorful tomatoes, rather than the tasteless, floury variety typically available in the fall and winter. Village Farms farming methods use:
- 86% less water compared to the average for tomatoes grown outdoors.
- 97% less area to grow the same amount of tomatoes outdoors.
- Useful insects to control pests and stimulate healthy plant growth instead of harmful chemicals
How to make tomato cornbread
This cornbread recipe is a new recipe we created specifically for Village Farms Sinfully Sweet Campari® tomatoes. Campari tomatoes are cocktail-sized, essentially a large cherry tomato. Here we used them in an upside-down cornbread, where the cornbread is baked with sliced tomatoes on the bottom. It is then turned over after cooking to reveal a beautiful tomato pattern.
For our concept we added fresh sage leaves as another element of detail and taste. And in the end we decided to top the cornbread with grated parmesan and toast it until crispy. (It was Alex’s idea, really: genius!) The colors are great and it’s gotten rave reviews from all the friends we’ve served it to. We hope you enjoy it this Thanksgiving Day or anytime – and be sure to keep an eye out for Village Farms tomatoes at your local grocery store, they’re an added treat!
More good breads? Mexican cornbread or artisanal Dutch bread
Looking for Cornmeal Recipes?
This Tomato Sage Parmesan Cornbread recipe is the first of our traditional cornbread recipes. But we have many other recipes with cornmeal. Here are some of our favorite cornmeal recipes:
did you make this recipe
If you make our Parmesan Tomato Sage Cornbread, we’d love to know how it went. Leave a comment below or share a photo on Instagram and mention @acouplecooks and @village_farms.
This recipe is…
Vegetarian and gluten free.
The description
Looking for a stunning side dish? This Upside Down Cornbread with Parmesan Tomatoes is a delicious, crunchy, and healthy cornbread.
- 5 at 6 Village Farms Sinfully Sweet Campari® Tomatoes (enough for 24 thin slices)
- 12 small sage leaves
- 1 ½ cups meal with cereals
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ tablespoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ cups milk
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1½ tablespoons butter
- Parmesan cheese, for garnish
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Cut the tomatoes into thin slices with a sharp knife. Salt them and place them on a cutting board. After a few minutes, blot with a paper towel to remove excess liquid. Wash and dry sage leaves.
- In a large bowl, mix together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, then stir in the milk and olive oil.
- When the oven is preheated, place the butter in a 9×13 inch skillet and place the skillet in the oven for a few minutes to melt the butter. Once the butter has melted, brush the whole pan with it. Arrange the tomatoes and sage leaves at the bottom of the pan (ours fits 6 rows of 4 tomatoes; make sure to place the sage leaves upside down).
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Slowly pour the paste over the tomatoes and sage leaves as gently as possible. (Watering or draining too quickly can cause rows of tomatoes to shift, so use caution with this process.) Flatten the top with a spatula.
- Place pan in oven and bake until golden on sides, about 30 minutes (if your oven is uneven, 15 minutes, rotate pan for even cooking). Remove from the oven and run a sharp knife along the edges, then carefully invert onto a baking sheet. Garnish with a thin layer of finely grated Parmesan cheese and toast over high heat for 3-4 minutes until crispy.
- Cut into pieces and serve hot (or at room temperature). For storage, wrap leftover pieces in foil and refrigerate or freezer. Before serving, reheat in a 350F oven until warm and crispy (bread gets very dry when cold so it’s best to reheat in the oven for a few minutes).
- Category: Cooked
- Method: Cooked
- Kitchen: American
Keywords: Cornbread, upside down cornbread, tomato cornbread, tomatoes, how to make cornbread, vegetarian, bake
