Roasted tomatoes on toast

As the summer of 2013 comes to an end we have to talk about this and that.

First of all – I’m sorry I’ve been away for so long. A lot of things were happening during these past few weeks, and I didn’t have that much time or energy to write a new post. Hopefully that will change once autumn, then winter kicks in and I won’t spend my spare energy on making sure I breathe and suchlike.

Second of all I’ve got a really easy recipe for you. I love tomatoes, especially during the summer – it’s one of the best things of the season, I think. They make the unbearably hot weather worth it. It’s been long since I’ve made this dish, and it’s probably not even a proper recipe, but here you go.

Oven-roasted tomatoes on toast

Ingredients:

5 big tomatoes

4 bulbs of garlic

2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary (or you can use dried)

1 ball of mozzarella

1 baguette (or just some slices of bread, it’s your choice)

olive oil

some butter

Step 1. Halve the tomatoes and put them inside an ovenproof dish on some baking parchment so they won’t stick. (And this way you don’t have to do that much washing up.)

Step 2. Inside the dish put 4 bulbs of unpeeled garlic. This way it will go really sweet and mushy and you’ll just love it. Sprinkle the tomatoes with some dried rosemary, or use fresh, it’s even better. If you use fresh herbs, lay the sprigs onto the tomatoes.

Step 3. Season with salt and pepper. Pour some olive oil or other vegetable oil over the tomatoes and bake them until they’re shrivelled and not-so-juicy. (You’ll probably be fine on 180-190°C for about 45 minutes, but it all depends on the size of your tomatoes. It could be worth it to try roasting them at 200°C or a bit higher.)

Step 4. A little bit before the tomatoes are done, slice up the baguette or your bread. If you’re using a baguette, slice it at an angle so its surface will be slightly bigger. That way it will look much fancier. Then heat some butter (or margarine as I did) in a pan with some oil, so it won’t burn. When it’s hot, fry the slices until golden brown. It’s best if you’re using slightly stale baguette or bread, because the butter will resurrect it instantly and give it a nice bit of crunch. While they’re frying, slice up some mozzarella.

Step 5. Take your tomatoes out of the oven and start plating. My method was: baguette – mozzarella – tomato – garlic – mozzarella. For me not all of them got mozzarella on top, but that doesn’t really matter. After you’re ready, start eating!

Well, the thing is, I didn’t bake my tomatoes long enough, so they stayed a bit juicier than I intended them to, but they tasted heavenly! Of course the little sandwiches were so high it was almost impossible to eat them in a slightly less barbaric manner, but wow, it was a good breakfast. They say that these roasted tomatoes are even better when they’re cold – I can’t confirm, they didn’t last that long.

Enjoy!