Grilled Tomatoes With Mozzarella and Parmesan

If you have 15 minutes, you can make these herbed grilled tomatoes with cheese and taste a bit of a pizzeria taste in every bite. You will never yearn for a slice of pizza when you have these.

We started off just wanting to grill some tomatoes. They are gorgeous, in season and we can’t get enough of them from our local farmers market. We started by just grilling the tomatoes, then we added salt and pepper, followed by adding cheese for some protein and we felt like we were almost there.

We decided to repurpose the herb mixture we use from our portobello mushroom pizza to rub on the tomatoes and that is when the magic officially happened. Every bite now tasted like a pizza without the crust. It was the jackpot for us and I can’t wait to share it with you. 

🍅 Ingredients 

Beef Steak Tomatoes – Make sure to buy fresh and pretty firm tomatoes. If they are too ripe, they will become too mushy on the grill. Cutting them in half allows them to maintain their shape and hold the cheese in at the same time. 

Cheese – The quality of  the cheese will really dictate the flavor here. I prefer to shred my own cheese in the Cuisinart. Too many of the bagged, pre-shredded cheeses have additives included. Yep, I use the bagged stuff from time to time but I generally gravitate back to shredding my own as the quality is better and it always melts perfectly. For this recipe, we used a mixture of Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses. 

🔥 Grilling Instructions 

These are so simple to make that they’ll become a standard in your home. The ingredients are so easy to remember so I can just pick up what I need at the store and grill without having to pull up recipes or try to remember what is left out. We all need a few recipes like this in our back pocket. 

Step One: Heat up the grill to 400 degrees. If you heat up to 350, you won’t get those awesome grill grate marks we are all looking for. They not only look great, but they add a great flavor.

Step Two: Mix the olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, and italian seasoning together in a bowl and set aside. 

Step Three: Cut the tomatoes in half and clean out the juices and seeds using a kitchen spoon. Brush the tomatoes with the olive oil/herb mixture.

Step Four: Place on the grill for three minutes with the cut side down. 

Step Five: Turn them over and add the cheese to the top of the tomatoes. Grill an additional 2-3 minutes for the cheese to melt.

Step Six: Add the chopped fresh basil. Remove and serve. 

🍴 Substitutions 

You can do a few things to mix this one up. 

Cheese – Change the cheeses here to get a completely different flavor. Fontina, Gruyere and Swiss all melt great and will provide unique flavors. 

Seasonings – Completely change the seasoning mixture you choose, but keep the olive oil as it helps the tomatoes from sticking to the grill. 

Panko or Breadcrumbs – Add breadcrumbs to the top of the tomatoes and lightly sprinkle the cheese on top. You will not use as much cheese if you choose this option. 

Pizza Toppings – Think about adding in a slice of pepperoni, some crumbled sausage or other pizza toppings.  This will essentially become a crustless pizza using super fresh and healthy ingredients.

📌 Tools 

Our handy GrillGrate is the key to getting those thick grill lines that we love. The Grill Grate also holds delicate vegetables and seafood much better as there is more surface area. If you don’t have one, use a cast iron skillet or Copper Grilling Mat so the tomatoes don’t fall through the skinny grill grates. If you have never seen or heard of a Copper Grilling Mat, make sure to read all about it here.

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