Author Notes
Sweet red peppers go really well with tart juicy tomatoes. I just got a 15 year old Modena basalmic vinegar which wanted to play with reducing. This recipe is wonderful with your own fire roasted peppers. I have made this recipe twice this week, once with fire roasted peppers from a bottle and once from my own grill: Both worked really well. Great bottole ones make this recipe really quick! But the ones from the grill can make this more of an event. Use a wonderful baquette, fresh soft ripened goat cheese, and a high grade EVOO with a peppery finish. This is so simple, so quick, and so delicious for entertaining! I suggest you serve this with a knife and fork, making it an appetizer; it can easily be a whole dinner. Strew the tomatoes and peppers generously across the plate interlaced with the warm goat cheese atop the toasted baquette slices. Drizzle the EVOO and the almost candy-like reduced vinegar Jackson Pollock style. In my second batch with my own fire roasted peppers and cherry tomatoes I used a chevre fleurie organic soft ripened goat cheese, like a burratina. For that I toasted the baquettes with olive oil and then placed the cheese sliced as rings on top. The heat of the toast was sufficient to warm the cheese. This can be a meal onto itself and all done outdoors if you have an elaborate grill set-up that allows you to reduce the vinegar in a small pan. —Sagegreen
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Ingredients
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4
fire roasted peppers, sliced into sixteenths
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1 pound
black cherry tomatoes, black prince heirlooms, or kumatoes, halved or quartered
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grapeseed oil
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1
fresh large baquette or 2 eight inch baguette rolls
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1 cup
aged red basalmic vinegar
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1/2 cup
EVOO
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1 tablespoon
pink or kosher salt
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12 ounces
fresh soft ripened goat cheese
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flat leaf parsley and fresh basil for garnish
Directions
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In a small pan reduce the basalmic vinegar about 50% until it is a heavy syrup.
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After fire roasting a batch of peppers (see illustrations of some on the grill, quartered, laid flat, then when cool scrape off the blackened skin over a bag), take 4 and cut into sixteenths. Or start with a high grade bottle of prepared peppers, as I did with the first batch. Halve the cherry tomatoes or quarter the small heirlooms. I recommend using a black tomato for the contrast in color, but other tart heirlooms would also work. Heat a small amount of grapeseed oil in a heavy saute pan. Add the tomatoes first with salt to saute for a few minutes. Add the peppers just to heat. If you are using larger tomatoes like the black prince, you might want to remove the skins after grilling. I like leaving the skins on with the smaller cherry tomatoes. There is one photo that shows the state where one half is perfectly grilled and the other half is a minute behind.
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Brush the baguette with some EVOO and cut it into serving sizes. Toast until the bread is golden brown. Top with the goat cheese while still hot.
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Assemble each serving portion with the warm peppers, tomatoes, goat cheese and bread. Drizzle the EVOO and reduced vinegar over everything on the plate. Add parsley and basil as garnish. Salt to taste.
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