I saw a few beautiful green tomatoes at the supermarket so I got the idea to prepare oven fried tomatoes and I thought they’d be special if I topped them with a pimento cheese flavored potato so here it is. The potato topping is extremely tasty, fluffy, flavorful and a little spicy. The coating comes out crispy and delicious. The mustard in the eggs adds flavor and helps the crumbs stay on the tomato. Also the whole wheat panko is so much crispier than regular panko so it’s super great for oven fried things.

Ingredients for about 9 servings

2 lb potatoes (peeled cut in half in a pot of water)

1/2 sweet onion (just for boiling with the potatoes, then toss out)

1 hot pepper (just for boiling with the potatoes, then toss out)

1 garlic clove (just for boiling with the potatoes, then toss out)

2 Tablespoons kosher salt (for boiling the potatoes)

2 oz sweet butter – room temperature (for potatoes)

1/8 cup heavy cream (for potatoes)

2 1/2 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese – shredded – (for potatoes)

3 oz cream cheese (for potatoes)

6 hot and sweet jarred cherry peppers – chopped fine – (for potatoes)

1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika (for potatoes)

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard  (for potatoes)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper (for potatoes)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (for potatoes)

1/4 teaspoon course sea salt (for potatoes)

2 large eggs beaten (for potatoes)

3 medium sized green tomatoes – cored and sliced in thirds across

1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 large eggs – beaten

1 Tablespoon (heaping) dijon mustard

1 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs

non stick spray – canola or vegetable

Directions

Put the potatoes, onion, hot pepper, garlic and salt in a pot to bring to a boil (medium high so it doesn’t boil over) Let it go till potatoes are fork tender. (about 15 minutes) Then drain and discard the onion, hot pepper and garlic clove.

If you have a good masher mash the potatoes and go on. If your masher isn’t so great you need to rice the potatoes and then do next step.

In the bowl with the potatoes add butter, cheddar, cream cheese, cherry peppers, sweet paprika, dry mustard, black pepper, cayenne pepper, course sea salt, beaten eggs and mix. Set to the side.

Turn the oven on to 350 degrees F. Spray baking sheet(s) with non stick spray and set to the side.

Core the tomatoes. Trip bottom if needed.

If they are medium sized tomatoes cut in thirds across.

Make a dipping station of three pans.

First pan is flour, sweet paprika, cayenne pepper, kosher salt, black pepper.

Second pan is eggs and dijon mixed well.

3rd pan is panko.

Take a tomato slice dip well in the flour mixture. Then dip in the egg mixture. Lastly coat with panko and placed on baking sheet(s) sprayed with non stick spray. (some people do prefer a rack instead of a baking sheet but I find everything turned out great on a pan for me.) Repeat till the tomatoes are done.

After 45 minutes flip the tomatoes and let them go 15 minutes more. The coating should look nice like it was fried.

Let the tomatoes cool for at least 15 minutes. Place on a fresh non-stick sprayed sheet pan(s) and then either pipe or spoon on the pimento potato topping. I do note the piping can be a little tricky with a star tip on a pastry bag and got slightly clogged a few times. If I were doing this again…..Instead of a star tip I would just use no tip on my pastry bag to avoid any clogging.

Pop them in the oven at 350 degrees F till they have crisp brown edges. (I forgot to time this…SORRY) It was 15 – 30 minutes….

Leftovers heat up very easy in a covered pan.

These came out really delicious. When I made the potato filling my husband just kept eating it (before I added the raw eggs) saying this is really tasty….and I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough for the recipe. This came out Forking Delicious just about everyone will love it.