Balsamic Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
A couple of friends of mine planted a nice bunch of cherry tomato bushes while I was on holidays so we've been rather blessed with an abundance of delicious little fruits for the past couple of weeks. After harvesting only two days worth, we found we had a rather decent pile of these so decided that the only thing for it was roasting! The recipe that follows is more guidelines and I've made something similar using overripe roma tomatoes that I've bought cheap from the markets. You can use any tomatoes and fresh herbs that you like really as long as you cut the tomatoes to even size and leave the herbs on the stems.
Approx 500g cherry tomatoes, halved (or more, or less, use as much as you have!)
three 3-inch sprigs of fresh rosemary (you could definitely use fresh oregano or basil if you have it)
4-6 cloves of garlic, whole, unpeeled with just the very tip cut off)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Tip all of your tomatoes into a roasting pan, drizzle with your balsamic and EVOO and shake around to coat fairly evenly. Dot your garlic cloves and rosemary around the pan and then slow roast at about 150 celsius for about an hour and a half. You want the skins to wrinkle but not brown and for any juice in the pan to thicken but not burn. If the juice is reducing and drying out to much, add a little extra EVOO and balsamic. Discard the rosemary and serve tomatoes straight on toast (smear your toast with some of the roasted garlic first and then top with the tomatoes to make a delicious bruschetta) or mix tomatoes and roasted garlic with pasta and more fresh herbs (I've including my favourite version below).
Balsamic Roasted Cherry Tomato Penne
One quantity of roasted cherry tomatoes (see recipe above)
270g penne
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
Finely grated romano cheese (or vegan parm. substitute) to serve
Cook the pasta to packet directions. Take 2-3 heaped tablespoons of the roasted tomatoes, the tomato paste and fresh rosemary and place in food processor with blade attachment. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of it's paper and add to the food processor along with any juices in the roasting pan. Blend on low until pureed to your liking. Mix this puree along with the remaining roasted tomatoes through the pasta, top with romano (if using) and serve.
Approx 500g cherry tomatoes, halved (or more, or less, use as much as you have!)
three 3-inch sprigs of fresh rosemary (you could definitely use fresh oregano or basil if you have it)
4-6 cloves of garlic, whole, unpeeled with just the very tip cut off)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Tip all of your tomatoes into a roasting pan, drizzle with your balsamic and EVOO and shake around to coat fairly evenly. Dot your garlic cloves and rosemary around the pan and then slow roast at about 150 celsius for about an hour and a half. You want the skins to wrinkle but not brown and for any juice in the pan to thicken but not burn. If the juice is reducing and drying out to much, add a little extra EVOO and balsamic. Discard the rosemary and serve tomatoes straight on toast (smear your toast with some of the roasted garlic first and then top with the tomatoes to make a delicious bruschetta) or mix tomatoes and roasted garlic with pasta and more fresh herbs (I've including my favourite version below).
Balsamic Roasted Cherry Tomato Penne
One quantity of roasted cherry tomatoes (see recipe above)
270g penne
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
Finely grated romano cheese (or vegan parm. substitute) to serve
Cook the pasta to packet directions. Take 2-3 heaped tablespoons of the roasted tomatoes, the tomato paste and fresh rosemary and place in food processor with blade attachment. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of it's paper and add to the food processor along with any juices in the roasting pan. Blend on low until pureed to your liking. Mix this puree along with the remaining roasted tomatoes through the pasta, top with romano (if using) and serve.