Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Roasted Cherry Tomato Crostoni

Roasted Cherry Tomato Crostoni with Ricotta

This is a welcome fix for the seasons when local vine ripened tomatoes are unavailable. The roasted cherry tomatoes from this recipe are easily adaptable to other applications, including salads, pastas, or pizzas. A separate recipe for ricotta follows.

Serves 6 to 12

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes: (Nancy Silverton; Mozza Cookbook)

• 1 pound small ripe cherry tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon crystallized sea salt
• fresh ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 300F/150c Place a wire rack on top of a foil or parchment lined baking sheet

Place the tomatoes in a bowl and drizzle the olive oil over them and season with salt and pepper. Toss gently and place the tomatoes on the rack in a single layer and put them in the oven in the middle position and roast for 1  1/2 hours. The skins of the tomatoes should have shriveled somewhat, but the tomatoes will have retained their shape.

Remove from the oven and allow cooling on the rack.

To finish:

• 2  tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1  onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 2  3 inch red, green, or yellow chiles, seeds removed and thinly diced
• 3  cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 4  tablespoons gin or vermouth
• 1/3 cup basic red sauce or chicken stock
• 1  tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Place the olive oil in a large saute  pan over medium heat. Add the sliced garlic to flavor the oil, removing them before they color or burn, and set aside to add later. Add the onions and saute  for 8 to 10 minutes until they are translucent. Then add the reserved sliced garlic and the diced chilies and saute  for 1 minute. Add the gin or vermouth and turn up the heat and reduce until nearly absorbed. Add the red sauce, or chicken stock, and oregano and saute  until the sauce is reduced and glossy.

Remove from the heat and cool. Once cool, carefully add the roasted cherry tomatoes and toss gently to glaze. Best served at room temperature. Refrigerate for storage.

Crostoni: 

On hand: fresh homemade ricotta (see Homemade Ricotta Recipe)

Crostoni is a hearty toasted wedge of bread cut on the diagonal, while crostini is a smaller toasted bit size round usually cut from a baguette.

Preheat oven to 325F/160C

The crostoni can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container. I much prefer crostoni, or crostini to crackers and always keep a supply on hand and ready for unexpected guests.

• 1  large crusty loaf or baguette; traditional, multi-grained, or any other that you prefer
• extra-virgin olive oil for brushing the baguette slices
• peeled garlic cloves for rubbing
• 1 tablespoon crystallized sea salt  
• 1  teaspoon ground fennel seeds    
• 1  teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Slice the bread about 1/2 inch on the diagonal, creating wedges, and place on baking sheets. Brush each wedge generously with the extra-virgin olive oil and place the sheets in the oven at 325F/160c for about 12 minutes, but keep an eye on them as you want them to reach a golden color and they can burn quickly!

In the meantime combine the salt, fennel seeds, and pepper and bash them up a bit into a seasoning mix.

Once the bread is well toasted,remove the sheets from the oven and while still hot rub each crostoni  with the garlic and then season all with the salt/fennel/pepper mixture and remove from the sheet to a metal rack to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Serving:

Spread a generous amount of ricotta on the crostoni and top with as many roasted tomatoes (at room temperature preferably) as will comfortably fit on top. Drizzle with juices and serve.