Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad


One of my favorite things about living in NYC is how easy it is to get great buffalo mozzarella. Of course I wish I had the best of both worlds, great mozzarella and tomatoes and basil growing in my garden. So for now I just have to take advantage of the amazing grocery stores that offer all of these.  I am also a huge fan of the Barefoot Contessa so I decided to make her recipe of Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad. I got it out of her Back to Basics book. I brought it to a picnic and it was a huge hit. What is great about this is you can make it early and it transports well. I've also made this as a appetizer for a dinner on top of a lovely crusty bread or cracker. Try it and let me know what you think.

Ingredients
12 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeds (not core) removed
1/4 cup good olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons of sugar
kosher salt and pepper
16 ounces fresh salted mozzarella
12 fresh basil leaves, julienned

Directions

Pre heat oven to 275 degrees

Arrange the tomatoes on a sheet pan, cut sides up, in a single layer. Drizzle with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with the garlic, sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 2 hours until the tomatoes are concentrated and begin to caramelize. Allow the tomatoes to cool to room temperature.

Cut the mozzarella into slices slightly less than 1/2 inch thick. If the slices of mozzarella are larger than the tomatoes, cut the mozzarella slices in half. Layer the tomatoes alternately with the mozzarella on a platter and scatter the basil on top. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and drizzle the lightly with olive oil. Serve at room temperature.







7 comments:

  1. I love caprese! And I agree about how nice the buffalo mozzarella being so accessible is but now I wish I could grown my own basil & tomatoes!

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  2. Well that looks delicious! I had THE BEST fresh motz at Eataly in NYC. Man, I'm still thinking about it. This salad looks yummy. I will totally try it!

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    1. Thanks. I have been dying to get over to Eataly. Let me know if you try it and what you think.

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  3. Oh my! Andrea this was so Delish I cannot explain to you how great it was..I sat and ate the entire plate. I couldn't find any large plum tomatoes, so I settled for some small/med size pearl tomatoes. They were bite size and I fit 2 on small slices of French baguette bread from traders. Again it was mouth watering.

    Thank you!

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    1. I never thought to use those tomatoes. That is great idea that I will try next time. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. This is one of my favorite dishes and I'm looking forward to trying your recipe for it. Would you come link it up at my recipe link up? I'd be honored! ~~katie (link up another also if you would like) I'd love to introduce my readers to your blog! http://www.katieslanguagecafe.com/2012/10/french-cuisine-friday-recipe-link-up-2.html

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