Tomato Parmesan Sandwich

After my Three Days of Pizza, I was left with my French bread, tomatoes, and lots of Parmesan cheese, even after using a good portion of the bread to make crostini for my boeuf bourguignon.  So here I am, just made the kids lunch, and I can't decide what I want.  One day on Pinterest, I saw a pin for Parmesan tomatoes, so I decided to play off that.

Ingredients

Tomatoes

French bread

Parmesan cheese

Balsamic vinegar

Garlic

Basil (from my garden window)

Salt and pepper

Directions

Start off by cutting your bread down to sandwich size (mine was 6 inches).  Then cut the bread in half length wise.  Slice your tomato and lay them on one half of the sandwich (preferably the bottom half).  Drizzle the other half with the balsamic vinegar.  Sprinkle your finely minced garlic over the side with the balsamic.  Salt and pepper your tomatoes, then sprinkle 2 tbsp. of Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.  You want the tomatoes warm, the cheese to brown ever so slightly, and the bread toasted.  At this point, you can either place whole bsil leaves on your sandwich, or cut them into a chiffonade as I did.

All of these ingredients, other than the French Bread, I always have in my kitchen!  Creating a great meal from ingredients you already have takes a little inspiration and lots of creativity.  Don't be afraid to create something new with resources you already have at your disposal.