Tuesday 24 July 2012

The tomato stall haul


Now don't get me wrong, I love tomatoes as much as the next gazpatcho obsessive. But until heading home with a brown paper bag full of tomatoes from the Tomato Stall, I didn't know they could taste quite so good.


Tomatoes are often used as a base, a general flavour-filler, or simply to add colour to a dish. But good tomatoes, like mushrooms, stand up to just a little seasoning all by themselves. After spending a few hours hearing how great tomatoes could be, I wanted to see exactly what the fuss was about. So I grilled some vine and plum tomatoes for breakfast, keeping it simple with just some balsamic vinegar and rosemary.


The vine tomatoes were fleshy and great with toast, but the plum tomatoes were something else. Grilled with the rosemary they went very sweet, and sort of like how I imagine sundried tomatoes should really taste. This is a great example of how stripping back flavours and ingredients can leave you with something totally new to try- no oil, onions, eggs, cheese, or anything else needed- just one amazing key ingredient.


Ingredients
Handful of tomatoes, some chopped in half or left whole
Few sprigs of rosemary
Balsamic vinegar
Seasoning
Toast
Salad leaves

Turn the grill up high, and get the kettle on. Place the tomatoes on an oven tray with some rosemary to sit along side, then season with salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar. Place in the grill for around 3-5 minutes- I like my tomatoes to just be beginning to cook through but if you like yours a little more cremated, leave longer.

In this time, sort out your toast and tea. Once the tomatoes are grilled, top the toast with washed salad leaves. Then scrape everything that's on the oven tray on- all the bits of rosemary and seasoning, and of course, as many tomatoes as you can fit.


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