Author Notes
This is a multi-purpose amazing hardly a recipe: perfect when the summer heirloom cherry tomatoes are king but equally wonderful with the less than welcoming mass-produced winter cherries. Bonus: leftover tomatoes keep for a good while (with a layer of olive oil) and are terrific additions to enrich sauces or punch up a dish or even just on pasta all by themselves.... —Canned
Ingredients
- Roasted Tomatoes
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2 pints
cherry tomatoes, halved
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1 tablespoon
fennel seed
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3
garlic cloves, halved if large (green germ removed)
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1
dried red chile de arbol, crumbled (or fresh jalepeno or hot red pepper)
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1 cup
olive oil
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1
baguette, thinly sliced - toasted or not
- Ricotta with Lemon
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2 cups
fresh ricotta - it pays to get it from a pork store, local cheesemaker or Italian deli
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1/2
lemon, juiced and zested
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Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
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2 tablespoons
best qualily olive oil
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1/4 cup
basil, roughly chopped only if in season
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine halved tomatoes, garlic, fennel seed , chile and olive oil in a gratin or baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring once or twice.
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Mix the ricotta, lemon juice and zest in a shallow serving bowl. Season the ricotta with salt and pepper to taste and drizzle the top with the good quality olive oil. If seasonal, sprinkle with chopped basil.
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Toast the baguette slices under the broiler, watching carefully. Honestly, not toasting the bread is fine and certainly eliminates an annoying step. Put toasted or untoasted baguette slices in a bowl or on a serving platter.
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Remove the tomatoes from the oven and serve warm in the gratin or baking dish, accompanied by the ricotta and bread (and two spoons). Let your guests dig in.....
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