Fresh tomatoes. Roasted until sweet. Fresh garden herbs. Combined and kneaded into yeast dough. Fresh from the oven. Fragrant and flavorful. Soft, tender, and delicately chewy. Perfectly sliceable for your deli-quality sandwiches.
Better make two loaves while you’re at it.
This is a “Make a Request!” fulfillment for Carmen Sanchez. She wrote, “I have looked all over the internet to no avail…for a recipe I used to have back in the late 70′s…Herbed Tomato Bread. It was the best!” Carmen, I don’t know what that particular bread tasted like, but I know what this one tastes like – and you are going to l.o.v.e. it! I had a lot of fun developing this recipe and am so happy you put in the request! This is now one of my favorite breads and one that I will make again and again.
The timing was perfect. My husband I were leaving for our anniversary trip to Astoria Oregon the day after I made this and so I used the leftover bread to make some sandwiches for the drive down. The aroma of the bread filled the car within minutes – those freshly roasted tomatoes and garden herbs. Were weren’t on the road very long before I caved and gobbled that sandwich right up. This bread is amazing. I think you could almost slap a piece of cardboard on this bread and it would still taste incredible! I’m confident you won’t find a better tomato & herb bread anywhere.
The trip to Astoria and Cannon Beach that followed was wonderful. Both are favorite destinations of ours. One of our first dates ever was to Cannon Beach and Astoria, so they hold a special place in our hearts. Astoria is such a neat town. So many beautiful Victorian homes in such a beautiful setting. Before we get to the recipe, let me share a few pictures with you!
Of course you can’t go to Astoria without seeing some sites from “The Goonies”, right? Let’s start with a few of those. Below is Brand and Mikey’s house where the Goonies hang out, turn the statue of David into a eunuch, and find the treasure map.
Remember the scene where Brand and Mikey’s dad is hanging up the American flag outside at work? That was the Flavel House (*sigh*…if it ever comes up for sale…for 1/4 of what it’s worth…) Then there’s the jail where the Fratelli’s helped bust their son/brother out of (sorry about the dangling participle). And bottom right is a view from the street leading to the Goonies house.
Astoria was also the setting for Kindergarten Cop. Here’s the elementary school, still in use, and still proud of their Hollywood claim to fame (note the sign).
The Astoria Column, built in 1926. 7 feet wide and 525 feet tall. Such a beautiful setting!
The views from above were gorgeous. I would have loved to be there for sunset. I thought what a lovely setting it would be for a quiet sunset marriage proposal. It would be hard not to say “yes” in such a setting with such inspiring views of forever before you!
The view down was slightly less inspiring…
About 30 minutes from Astoria is Cannon Beach, one of our favorite spots. Remember the famous beach scene at the end of The Goonies with those really neat huge rocks? That’s Cannon Beach.
We discovered we weren’t the only ones headed in that direction. We came across a band of pirates on the side of the road. Not sure what the occasion was or where they were going. But I guess we all have our hobbies, right? Some people cook, some travel, others take pictures, scrapbook, or go skiing…and some people put on pirate garb and go “ARRRRR!”
And so we continued along the coastline to Cannon Beach.
Here are some pictures I took of the beautiful coastline and rock formations.
Gorgeous, stunning, inspiring! I love it!
And with that, let’s get to that deeeelicious Fresh Roasted Tomato & Herb Bread!
You’ll need a bunch of fresh herbs for this bread. I harvested several kinds from my garden. The variety made it especially good, but the main thing is quantity and they must be fresh, not dried. Growing herbs is so easy to do and so much cheaper than buying them in the store. They can be easily grown in pots on your balcony or doorstep if you don’t have the garden space.
You can use regular tomatoes for this recipe, but I happened to have some cherry tomatoes on hand that needed to be used, and I actually prefer using them for this bread – they’re ideal for roasting.
Get a generous amount of herbs. You’ll need about 1/4 cup chopped. I used a variety: Oregano, basil, marjoram, thyme, dill, sage, rosemary.
Chop them up.
Roast the tomatoes, drizzled with 1 tablespoon olive oil, in an oven preheated to 400 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until they start to blister.
Puree the tomatoes.
Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Combine the water, honey and olive oil in a bowl.
Add the yeast and stir to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Make a well in the flour and add the pureed roasted tomatoes.
Add the water/yeast mixture.
And the fresh herbs.
Attach a dough hook to the stand mixer and knead on the bread setting/medium for about 8 minutes. If too sticky, add some flour, a little bit at a time, and continue kneading. If too stiff and dry, add a little bit of water and continue to knead.
Remove the dough and form into a ball. Lightly spray the bowl with olive oil and roll the dough ball around in it. Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place.
Let it rise for about an hour or until it is nearly doubled in size.
Remove the dough and place it on a flat surface.
Form the dough into a 8 inch square, about the length of the bread pan.
Starting at the furthest end, roll the dough towards you, tucking it in as you roll it so it’s tight.
Pinch the seam together.
Lay the dough seam side down in a greased 9×5 loaf pan. I use the hand-forged aluminum pans by Magic Line, made in the USA. Love them! Make sure the dough is evenly spread in the pan and is touching all sides.
Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place to rise.
Let it rise for another 20-30 minutes or until the dough has risen a ways above the bread pan.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place a baking sheet on the bottom rack in the oven and pour two cups of boiling water in it (this will create a nice steam bath for the bread while its baking for optimal rise and texture.) Place the bread on the rack just above it and bake for it for 40-50 minutes or until the top of the bread is browned and the loaf sounds hollow when you tap on it with your knuckles.
Remove the bread from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool before slicing.
Remember my post for the German Picnic Salad? I talked a little about Castello’s delicious Alps Selection cheeses. I love their cheese and it paired beautifully with this bread. Spread a little butter on the bread with some good quality cheese and you’re all set!
Another great way to use this bread: Cube and toast the bread to make delicious salad croutons!
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes or quartered Roma tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2¼ teaspoons instant (rapid rise) yeast
- ¾ cup warm water
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup chopped mixed fresh Italian herbs (rosemary, basil, marjoram, thyme, sage, dill, oregano, parsley)
- To roast the tomatoes, spread them out on an aluminum foil-covered baking sheet and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and roast for 10-15 minutes or until the skins of the tomatoes are collapsed and just barely beginning to brown. Puree the tomatoes in a blender and set aside.
- Combine the water, yeast, honey and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Set aside.
- Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the tomatoes, the water/yeast mixture and the herbs. Stir with a wooden spoon or wooden spatula just until the ingredients are starting to come together, then attach a dough hook to the standing mixer and knead the dough for about 8 minutes on medium ("2" on a Kitchenaid standing mixer). The dough will still be a little sticky and tacky. If it's too wet, add a little more flour. Remove the dough from the bowl and roll into a ball.
- Lightly oil a clean bowl with oil and roll the dough ball around in it. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in a lightly warmed oven for about an hour, until doubled in size.
- Form the dough into an 8-inch square about 1 inch thick. Starting at one end, roll the dough firmly into a cylinder, making sure the dough sticks to itself. Turn the dough seam-side up and pinch the seam closed. Place the dough seam-side down in a greased 9x5 inch bread pan and gently shake the dough until all four sides touch the edges of the pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and returned to a warm place until it is almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Boil 2 cups of water and pour it into a baking pan and place it on the bottom rack. If possible, place the dough above the rack with the pan of boiling water. If not, place the boiling water in two smaller pans on either side of the bread pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the top of the bread is browned and the loaf sounds hollow when you tap on it with your knuckles.
- Transfer the bread to a wire rack and cool completely. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
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Tori says
Lovely, lovely pictures! Thanks for sharing! And the bread. . .omg. . .you’ve done it again. Yummm!!!
The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks, Tori! :) I had a lot of fun creating this recipe – and visiting Astoria/Cannon Beach. I’ll be harvesting some more herbs very soon to make another batch of this!
Linda Niles says
I love your web pages, everything is great. Thank you thank you!
The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you so very much, Linda! So happy to be able to share it with you! :)
jesusan says
This recipe sounds great. I don’t bake much bread any more, but I just might do this one. Loved the photos from Oregon. I think my sister got married on Cannon Beach (don’t remember for sure because I didn’t get to go to her wedding) so it’s nice to see what it looks like.
The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you, jesusan! I don’t bake bread very often either, but every time I do I wonder why I don’t! It’s not like the “time-consuming” aspect gets in the way of anything – you just throw the ingredients in the stand mixer, let it knead, and then let the bread do its rising while you go about your business. And there’s just nothing like homemade bread fresh out of the oven. So glad you liked the pictures from Oregon! It’s such a lovely area.
coco says
love it !!!!!!!!!!
The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks, Coco, and I love your enthusiasm!!
Carmen Sanchez says
You ARE the best!!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can hardly wait to try this!!!
The Daring Gourmet says
Thank YOU, Carmen! If it hadn’t been for your request I would probably have never developed this recipe – it’s now one of my favorite breads! :)
Carole says
Hi Kimberly, just letting you know that you are in my Featured Food Blog sidebar for August on Carole’s Chatter. Have a great week.
PS loved the pics in your post
The Daring Gourmet says
Carole, you are the BEST! Thanks so much! :)
amy2 says
thank you for this great recipe. I grow a herb garden and I had a nice time selecting the best herbs from it this year.to use in your delicious recipe. My daughter loves herb breads and she said this is the best I have made to date…….
The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Amy! I am so happy to hear that! Fresh herbs really make all the difference in this bread. It was a hit in my family as well. The aroma and flavor was so wonderful! Thank you so much for making this and for taking the time to leave some feedback!
Carmen B.Sanchez says
It’s the second day in a row with just the right amount of drizzle, gray skies, and a cold front coming. Just the kind of day I was waiting for to make the wonderful tomato bread I requested. I made it yesterday and I was very pleased with the results!!!! The hardest part was waiting for it to cool off enough to slice. I didn’t! :) Today, I’m making it again. Just checking to see if it is possible that it comes out better the second time. Thruthfullly, I’m sharing this one with my daugher-in-law…
Hubby is out of town…. don’t have to cook, I know what I’m having for dinner!
Thank you. The bread is wonderf!!!!!!!
The Daring Gourmet says
So happy to hear that, Carmen! Yes, I can relate to the lack of patience problem :) As hard as it is to wait, you definitely need to let it cool completely. Let me know how it turns out the second time!
Carmen B. Sanchez says
OHHHHHH! It was better the second time!!!! The texture looks just like in your pictures. I guess I´ll have to keep making it until it looks just like yours! :)
The Daring Gourmet says
Awesome!! Thanks again for making this (twice!), Carmen, and for your feedback!
Chelsea says
Love love love this idea!!! For some reason, I don’t use my dough hook nearly often enough. I’ll sit there and knead and knead and knead and when I’m done, I’m like “oh yea, I have this ridiculously expensive (but oh so worth it) appliance that’s supposed to make my life easier right?” I just got a bread machine for Christmas so I’ll never have to buy sliced sandwich bread (or jelly) again, but I’ll never want to use it to make all of my bread!!! Thanks for using your dough hook and reminding me to use mine lol. This is going to be the next loaf I make for sure!!!
The Daring Gourmet says
Haha, that’s so true! My ridiculously expensive appliance doesn’t get used nearly enough either. Thank YOU for reminding ME that I need to use it more this year! :)
Chelsea says
This didn’t turn out wonderful for me. The dough was more like a batter (similar to banana bread) and I had to add about an extra half a cup of flour which ended up in me over kneading and my bread was a little chewy :-( (I do measure my flour by lightly spooning it into the measuring cup then leveling it off) it had great flavor though (it would have been perfect if it weren’t for the slight chewiness) I will definitely try it again but with a little less tomatoes and little less water (and a little more flour from the start)
The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Chelsea! Yes, yeast dough can be tricky to work with and pretty much any time you make yeast bread you’re going to end up adjusting the amount of flour, up to a half a cup. That’s pretty standard. Everything from elevation to temperature to humidity can affect your dough and you’ll always need to tweak the amount of flour to liquids accordingly. And as you pointed out, the trick is not to over-knead it if you add more flour. The kneading will have already been done, so when you add more flour it’s just for the purpose of incorporating it to reduce the stickiness. I’m assuming you roasted the tomatoes first? Roasting will release a lot of the liquid from the tomatoes. And of course some tomatoes have more water than others to begin with. Pick good fleshy tomatoes, give them a good roasting, and don’t over-knead and you’re bread should turn out perfectly. And absolutely, you can start off by adding a little less water and can always add more if you need to.
Anonymous says
This looks delicious!! How would I adapt the recipe for high altitude?
The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you! King Arthur’s flour has a helpful chart to guide you through the necessary adjustments. If you google “how to adjust baking for high altitude” it will be the first link to appear. Happy baking!
Jo says
I’ve just come to your website looking for recipes for using up tomatoes (I’ve now filled all of my available jars with pickles, relishes and paste, so need something different!), and this looks amazing. Does it freeze well? My husband doesn’t eat tomatoes, so I was planning on making bread rolls from the recipe, and defrosting them as I need.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks Jo and welcome! Rolls sound wonderful. I haven’t tried freezing this before but theoretically it should freeze as well as any yeast dough (freeze the dough, thaw, proof and bake). As for freezing the already baked bread, again I’m not sure. If you try freezing the raw dough or baked rolls please let us know how it turned out!
Jo says
I’ve not managed to make the bread yet – not had sufficient time in the house over the last couple of weeks to allow for the proving time (plus, not enough space in the freezer!) However, I have used the recipe as inspiration for making tomato and herb scones; taking a standard savoury scone recipe, adding feta cheese and the herbs to the dry mixture, then adding the liquid tomatoes in place of milk. The first batch was a little bit chewy – I added too much tomato, and then tried to balance it out with extra flour, and think I ended up with the same issue as Chelsea above. (But I cut open, filled with cream cheese and then cooked, panini style, in a panini press, and they were yummy). Second lot, I added less tomato at a time (in half cup lots), and they seem to have worked better (they’ve just come out of the oven), and are smelling delicious.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Jo, that’s a wonderfully creative idea to incorporate this into scones! Thanks for sharing!
Anonymous says
I made this bread with your recipe and my family loves it :)
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s terrific, thanks so much for letting me know!
Donna Wile says
I needed to use up extra tomatoes from the garden. It sounded like a lot of work using the instructions given so I put all the dry ingredients in my bread maker and then added the wet ingredients. I turned on the bread maker and a few hours later it was done. The bread is wonderful!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s wonderful, Donna, I’m glad you enjoyed it, thank you!
Kristin says
I’ve been looking for an amazing tomato basil bread recipe. The last two I tried were disappointing. One wasn’t very flavorful, & the other didn’t rise! I honestly don’t think it was a user error either, as I’ve baked plenty of loaves of bread from scratch with no problem at all. At any rate, they say that the third time is a charm, & with your recipe that certainly proved true! Not only did this loaf rise beautifully, the flavor from all those fresh, fragrant herbs exploded on my tongue at first bite, warm from the oven. I’m thrilled to have stumbled upon your perfect recipe for tomato basil bread. Thank you for posting! This recipe has been saved & filed away for future bread baking 😊
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so thrilled to hear that, Kristin, I’m glad you enjoyed this as much as we do and appreciate the feedback!
Tammy says
If you don’t have fresh tomatoes or herbs on hand, how much would you need using canned tomatoes and dried herbs?
pam says
i used canned tomatoes, just make sure to strain tomatoes and use juice [+water if needed ] to make 1/2 cup liquid, if dry add extra 1/4 cup liquid….i found 1/2 cup liquid was plenty, since canned are wetter…..also added granulated garlic, WOW, i’m hooked
pam says
pam again, my husband thought it needed more tomato flavor , so made a second batch and added 2 ice cube sized cubes of tomato paste [homemade] and cut back on the water to 1/4 cp….even better than first…makes great crostini
Nicola says
I’ve made this bread before and it turned out amazing, just waiting for my second batch to finish it’s second rise. I do however have to add about 3 to 4 extra cups of flour to make the dough manageable, which seems odd, but it’s delicious. I also throw a few cloves of garlic in to roast with the tomatoes , and planning on adding sunflower seeds next time, if I ever get around to hulling the rest of the seeds we harvested last year.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Awesome, Nicola, I’m so glad you like it, thank you! But 3 to 4 extra cups of flour?? I don’t know how you’re getting anything other than rock hard loaf with that ratio of flour to liquid, but as long as it’s somehow turning out for you I guess that’s all that matters!
Nicola says
It turns out perfectly , which is strange…… I’m not sure if I’ve misinterpreted the recipe at some stage. Is the measure of tomatoes before or after they’ve been roasted and pureed? I thought it also might be a difference in sizes of cup measures (250 mls a cup here in New Zealand) but as I use the same measuring cups for both the wet and dry ingredients the ratio is still the same. Just about to bring one loaf and 6 rolls out of the oven , they look great :) Thanks again for the recipe. I haven’t made a lot of bread by hand, but after the tomato season we’ve had, I’ve been struggling to keep up with using them all so this recipe was perfect
gail says
Would love to make this recipe in my bread machine. Any thoughts?