Summer of tomatoes

The truth is I haven't been cooking much these last few months. At least, I haven't been cooking anything new and interesting. When I've taken the time to make my own food, I've stuck to my tried and true recipes (lots of roasted broccoli, lemony chickpea pasta, pickles.) And I've been inhaling tomatoes left and right. Gorgeous slow roasted grape tomatoes, burst-in-your-mouth teeny heirloom tomatoes, and lots of salt & pepper seasoned, olive oil drizzled heirlooms.

For most of my formative years my dad kept a massive garden in our backyard. He grew all sorts of veggies; peppers, green beans, snap peas, and, of course, tons of tomatoes. But I rarely ate the tomatoes. I was an oddly picky eater, I devoured bowls of garlic and wine soaked mussels, adored spicy hot & sour soup, and ate my way through thousands of steamed asparagus spears. But any food involving onions, cabbage, or chunky  tomatoes would be met with a grimace and a resounding no.

So while I loved certain parts of those gorgeous gardens, I didn't really appreciate the tomato bounty. My parents have since moved and majorly downsized their garden. A small selection of cherry and heirloom tomatoes grow out of planters on the deck, but its not quite the same. It's only been in the past year or so that I've grown to enjoy tomatoes, raw and cooked. I still prefer a smooth tomato sauce to chunky and mealy raw tomatoes kind of gross me out. But it's progress. I'm still working on the cilantro. And the onions.

The main reason I haven't done much cooking (other than my profound laziness) is a new project I'm working on. It's an article on burgers in Bloomington for a local magazine. So far I've tried burgers at over twenty restaurants around town. Tons of fun but also rather overwhelming. Between the burgers and the heat, when I get home all that sounds good is quick, meatless, and, frequently, a mostly vegetal food.

It's been a good summer, a crazy summer. But I'm ready for fall. I had my first honeycrisp apple of the season today. It was wonderful. I should have a few recipes coming up soon. A lovely corn and chickpea salad and some pickles serrano peppers. In the meantime, here's some tomato porn and a few of my favorites photos from this summer.

Slow Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad

It's the middle of summer and for some reason I've been craving roasted veggies like crazy. It seems so silly heating up the whole kitchen just for a little crispy-tender-sweet broccoli or cabbage. Luckily these slow roasted tomatoes are delicious compromise. Given a light coating of olive oil, a few cloves of garlic, and a low 225˚ oven, little cherry and grape tomatoes transform into juicy, sweet bombs of flavor. Tossed with fragrant basil, nuggets of creamy mozzarella, and a bit of balsamic glaze you have a gorgeous summery side salad.

This recipe calls for a pound of tomatoes, but really the salad only uses about half of that. Don't worry, you'll find a way to use the remainder. You could smear a few of the roasted garlic cloves on some bread with a little olive oil and few roasted tomatoes. Or make a sort of bruschetta - pile on top of toasted, garlic rubbed slices of bread. The tomatoes are truly divine on their own as well, I ate most of my leftovers like little tomato candies. The rest I tossed with orecchiette, a pat of butter and some freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese.

Likewise, the balsamic glaze cooks down to about 1/3 - 1/2 a cup of liquid, more than you'll need for this salad. The leftover glaze will last in your fridge for quite a while. It's lovely over grilled meat and fresh or cooked veggies. Make sure to use fresh mozzarella, you want whole balls shrink wrapped in plastic or sold in tubs full of whey. I used boccocini, delicate bite sized rounds of fresh mozzarella, you can usually find them with the gourmet cheeses. 

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Slow Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad with Balsamic Glaze

by Aubrey Dunnuck July-10-2011

Grape and cherry tomatoes turn sweet and deeply flavorful after slow roasting in a low oven. Tossed with fresh mozzarella, basil, and a balsamic glaze you have a beautiful summer salad.

Ingredients

16 oz Cherry or Grape Tomatoes 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 teaspoon Ground Coriander Seed 1 head fresh Garlic 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt 1/2 teaspoon ground Black Pepper 1 cup Balsamic Vinegar 8 oz fresh Mozzarella 4-5 large leaves fresh Basil

Instructions

Pre-heat your oven to 225˚F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Halve the tomatoes and separate the cloves of garlic, leaving them un-peeled. Toss tomatoes and garlic with olive oil, ground coriander, salt and pepper. Arrange tomatoes on the baking sheet - cut side up.

Roast tomatoes (and garlic) for around 3 hours, until the edges are wrinkled but the insides are still a bit juicy. I found that round cherry tomatoes tend to take a bit longer than oval shaped grape tomatoes.

To make the balsamic glaze - heat the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring vinegar to a boil and allow to reduce by about half, until it's thick and glossy. This will probably take around 20-30 minutes, keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

When you're ready to serve your salad, tear the mozzarella into bite size chunks and chiffonade the basil. Then, in a medium sized serving bowl, toss basil with the mozzarella and a cup of the roasted tomatoes. Drizzle with the balsamic glaze and serve right away with some crusty bread! 

Details

Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 3 hour Total time: 3 hour 30 mins Yield: 4 servings