Monday, March 2, 2009

Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad

Saturday was a rainy, messy day. While I busied myself cleaning house, A.J. busied himself watching Food Network. As I passed through the family room toward the laundry room, he stopped me and asked me how come I don't make the salad with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese anymore because he had a few ideas on how he wanted me to make it.
I know I looked at him like he was nuts. He continued by telling me he was watching that woman that always hangs out with the gay guys and if he bought the stuff would I make the salad with his changes.
I asked him if he meant the Barefoot Contessa. Long story short, I made a roasted tomato caprese salad the way my husband wanted it.
This was so simple to prepare and it looks great! It has a clean savory taste. I would go REAL easy on the sugar. We both found the tomatoes to be a little too sweet for out tastes.
So here's our version partially adapted from Barefoot Contessa.
Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad -
Cut six ripe Roma tomatoes in half.
Peel the seeds out of the tomatoes and place the on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
Drizzle the tomatoes with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Mince 2 to 3 cloves of garlic and sprinkle over tomatoes. Season the tomatoes with coarse sea salt and black pepper. Lightly sprinkle sugar over the tomatoes. Roast the tomatoes in a pre-heated 275 degree oven for 2 hours.
Allow the roasted tomatoes to cool to room temperature.

Plate up the tomatoes with sliced Pepper Jack Cheese, sprinkle with fresh julienned basil leaves and a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
A.J. chose to use Pepper Jack cheese in lieu of Mozzerella. He felt with the savory and robust taste of the roasted tomatoes, mozzerella cheese would be a void. He thought the Pepper Jack would be a better compliment to the tomatoes and the fresh basil. Very good decision!

37 comments:

Carol Murdock said...

Katherine...you never cease to amaze me with these recipes!Lord,
on my next trip to Townsend, I'm coming to your house to eat!
xoxo,
Carol

Willo said...

Those look WONDERFUL! Stopping by with some SITS love because you were ahead of me today!

Donna-FFW said...

I love this kind of salad. I sometimes make it and put it over chicken. It looks delicious!!

Anonymous said...

Tomatoes, mozzarella and basil are my favorite salad - I love your new version! Very delicious!

Jennifer said...

Are you spying on me? I am making a chicken caprese that I will post this week. I LOVE the funny 'gay guy' comment. Hysterical!

MsTypo said...

I love caprese salad!! Diet or no, its one of my favourite things to order when we go out. :) I've never thought of roasting the tomatoes first tho - i'll have to try that! :)

CookingCourtney said...

my mum would love this.
looks yummy.

Sara said...

This looks delicious! I saw that episode, it was a good one.

Debbie said...

Oh does that ever look good. I would love to have that with my dinner tonight....

Susie said...

Looks like we are both doing tomatoes today:-) Yours sounds and looks divine!!

Marjie said...

2 of my sons watch the food network, but my husband? Never in a million years. I love roasted tomatoes. Yours are pretty.

NKP said...

Just the kind of bright flavours I am craving - looks tasty!

tamilyn said...

This made me laugh-my daughters always say "does she only hang out with gay guys?". I said no and if she did there is nothing wrong with it. To which they agreed, but they only seem to catch those episodes. This always looks to good and healthy, but alas, I don't like tomatoes. I always think of it too late for a party, so I must leave a sticky note in the cupboard to remind myself to do that. Pictures look very lush and tasty.

Jennifer said...

Wow, what a great idea, someone's thinkin! I cant wait to make it!

Maria said...

Beautiful salad! Roasted tomatoes are full of flavor and oh so good!

Dewi said...

Love this Katherine! Salad looks delicious too.
Cheers,
Elra

April said...

How funny! My mom just asked me over the weekend if I noticed that she only has dinner with gay guys! This looks fantastic!!

Greg C said...

Do you think I could roast the tomatoes on the grill? It looks great.

Peter M said...

Roasting tomatoes concentrates their flavour so much. Fresh basil is one of my fave herbs.

Anonymous said...

Your husband is very lucky! Sounds like a delicious appetizer :).

Debbie said...

Yum! I just found your blog and guess what - we don't live very far from each other! So, I'll come help you eat that salad.

Anonymous said...

I do love all things roasted! I'll definitely have to try this.

jesse said...

"That woman who hangs out with the gay guys" HAHAHHAHAHAHAA oh my god, I was racking my brains to think of who it was, then when you said it's the Barefoot Contessa, I was like, DING! Of course, it makes sense now! Hahaha! Love the salad, looks brilliant!

Pam said...

Now that's a caprese salad taken up a notch. Looks fantastic!

Electronic Goose said...

Yum!

Cathy said...

Oh my word -- what a wonderful, unexpected treat this salad is in the dead of winter! I will close my eyes, take a bite, and pretend that it is balmy outside. I love it!

pam said...

Great idea! I would have never thought to make it with roasted tomatoes.

The Blonde Duck said...

LOL! The gay guy that hangs out with that chick. I love it. So when's your cookbook coming out?

Andrea said...

This is my favorite salad!!! Can't wait to try your version. :)

Not Another Omnivore said...

Whew! Does that look good!

NAOmni

La Bella Cooks said...

This looks so fresh and inviting. Love it!

Anonymous said...

my mom makes that all the time for parties and I love it so much!!

Reeni said...

During the winter I forget about this dish. I love to eat this during the summer when I have fresh tomatoes. I have such a craving now!! I love the swap out with the cheese, I bet that just zested it right up.

gigi said...

Roma tomatoes are some of my favorite tomaotes when you bake them like this. Did yall get more snow?

AndreaLeigh said...

that sounds really good! good call on the pepper jack. I bet smoked mozzarella would be good too.

Selba said...

Sounds so perfect! yummmm...

Paula said...

Smart man! This is a wonderful, wonderful salad! I, um, have a *thing* for roasted tomatoes, and I end up eating them uncontrollably. This salad looks so good that I might be able to hold off on my tomato binge long enough to compose and then devour this salad. YUM!