Tomato Casserole

I got the idea for this dish on my recent trip to Italy…HA! I’m joking. I simply had some tomatoes I wanted to use and then thought about how cannelloni comes with a cream sauce and a tomato sauce-so, here I am. This is major comfort food, my friends.

Ingredients:

2 cups (tightly packed) cubed Italian bread
1 cup fat free half and half
1 egg
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup grated parmesan

5 strips bacon

½ cup chopped onion
8 small tomatoes (I’m using the ‘vine ripe’ kind), cored and cut into quarters
2 cups (lightly packed) chopped Swiss chard
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

½ cup shredded parmesan cheese

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the bread cubes on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the half and half, egg, salt and grated parmesan. Pour into the bottom of a 1.5 quart baking dish.

Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.

Add the onion, tomatoes, Swiss chard, garlic salt and Italian seasoning into the bacon drippings. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the vegetables are soft and fragrant. Add in the bread cubes and bacon. Cook and stir for 3 minutes more. Spoon this mixture evenly into the cream mixture in the baking dish. Top with the shredded parmesan and bake for 35 minutes.