50+ Friends Club Cookbook
Eggs and Cheese

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Tomato Basket Eggs


From the Kitchen of:  Kathleen

This is a great brunch dish. Prepare one tomato for each person to be served, plus two or three extra. These are so good you can count on some folks wanting more than one.

  • For easy assembly: On the countertop, line up as many tomatoes as you plan to serve, along with the same number of eggs, a carton of sour cream and the condiments. Make at least one tomato basket for each person to be served, plus a few extra.

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

  • With a very sharp knife, cut the top off of each tomato and scoop out enough of the flesh to allow room for a whole egg and the sour cream in the cavity. Save the scooped out flesh to use in another dish later.
  • Stir a little salt, pepper and ground basil into the sour cream and put into the tomato.
  • Break an egg and carefully drop it into the tomato. Try not to break the yoke.
  • Place in a lightly greased ramekin or a baking dish and bake about 10 minutes, remove and sprinkle the grated cheese on top...return to oven for about 2 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

  • Tip: If you want to use Eggland's Best, or another brand of "safe" eggs, you may want to cook just to the stage where the white is set and the yolk is still runny (about 8 minutes). If you opt for this method, then mix the cheddar cheese with the sour cream in the bottom of the basket so you can see the egg yolk when you serve the tomato basket.

  • If serving a crowd for brunch, remove baskets to a serving platter and garnish with a little finely minced parsley over the top and some sprigs around the edge of the dish.

  • You can bake up to 12 tomatoes in a 9"x13" baking dish. Just cook as many as you need all at once... whether one or two dozen.