Braised Herb Tomatoes

This was sort of a last-minute side dish one night. My garden is bursting with tomatoes right now, which is great, but also stretches my imagination in the kitchen, since I have to think of ways to use them. Earlier this summer, I worked my way through the cabbage recipes in Fannie Farmer, and now I'm working my way through the tomatoes.

This recipe calls for whole, peeled tomatoes. But I used thick slices, so they would absorb more of the herbs, and these turned out pretty well. They would go very well with a plain meat dish, like steak or pork chops.

For these I used:
3 tbsp. butter
1 small/med onion, sliced thin (or scallions if you have them)
1 tbsp. parsley (fresh if possible)
2 tsp. dried basil (double that if using fresh)
1 tsp. thyme (I didn't have this, so I used oregano)
4 large tomatoes, sliced about 3/4in thick
salt & pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large cast iron skillet, then add the onions, gently separating the onion rings while they cook.

Add the herbs as the onions cook.

When the onions are soft and translucent, add the tomatoes, cover and cook on low for 5 minutes. Turn or arrange the slices in the pan so that each side gets some time on the bottom of the pan to braise. If you can't fit all the slices in the bottom of your skillet, do several batches.

When the tomatoes have cooked 5 minutes, remove from pan and spoon the juices, onions and herbs over them.