Savory French Toast With Cherry Tomatoes and Basil

By Sam Sifton

Savory French Toast With Cherry Tomatoes and Basil
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
Rating
4(450)
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This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen.

You know a stash of leftover bread makes the best French toast for breakfast, so it stands to reason that a savory version would be equally satisfying for the crew around your dinner table. At least that’s true in my house. Whisk the eggs as you usually would, but omit the sugar and cinnamon, hitting it instead with black pepper, chopped basil and a dash of hot sauce. Slide some slices of old bread in there to soak, then fry the toasts up in butter just as you would at breakfast. Scattering a few handfuls of halved cherry tomatoes into the pan as the bread cooks will yield a fine topping. Those who have doubted will doubt no more.

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Comments

Anett

Savory French toast was a staple of my childhood, my mom still makes it when we visit. I never even knew about the sweet version until I moved to the US. The last time we visited home, we had it stuffed with ham and cheese, served with aioli at a local restaurant. It was absolutely sublime.

Julie

Anyone else find that the brioche was too soft inside? I’ve always heard brioche makes the best French toast but halfway through I switched to Italian five-grain, which had more body. Tomatoes cooked in butter were the very best part. It made for a very satisfying dinner.

Kathleen

I’m going for dinner - with some crispy garlic sausages! Maybe some pesto?

Spruha

I used a recipe I'd seen years ago on Bon Appétit for the tomatoes. Smash a few cloves of garlic. and add them to olive oil. Roast them in the oil till the oil gets super garlicky, then remove. Add cherry tomatoes and cook till they break down and get jammy, then add a generous amount of red pepper flakes. Make French toast and add this jammy tomato concoction on top. Effervescent.

Doug

I made this like the sheet pan French Toast to great success!! A whole loaf of bread thick cut in the oven at 425 with 5 minutes on each side. The whole group got hot fresh French toast at once — though the cherry tomatoes were sautéed in a pan and put on top of the cooked slices.

Beverly S

Darn! This is easy and delicious and makes a dent in my bumper crop of cherry tomatoes. A smattering of bacon crumbles is a nice addition!

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