Tag: cherry tomatoes

Baked Goat Cheese “Caprese” – Hot and Not

No salad will break your heart like the “Caprese.” It always sounds great; creamy mozzarella, fragrant basil, and sweet, juicy, vine-ripened tomatoes…what’s not to love? Well, false advertising for one. With very few exceptions, the tomatoes used on these Caprese salads are not sweet, juicy, ripe tomatoes; they’re the opposite.

They’re almost always your standard, conventionally
produced, picked green and left to redden (not ripen) in the case, tomatoes.
They’re mealy, flavorless, and completely undeserving of being paired with
ingredients as perfect as mozzarella and basil.

While I’m invariably disappointed by the execution of this
classic salad, I do love the combination of flavors, and by using cherry tomatoes,
I thought it would translate perfectly for a baked goat cheese appetizer. Did
it ever. When you take into consideration the taste, appearance, and ease of
preparation, there’s a real chance this could become your new favorite summer
appetizer.

By the way, as long as you are using high quality, oven
safe ramekins, you can also do these on the backyard grill. Place a piece of
foil on the grates, set down your ramekins, close the cover, and cook until the
juices are bubbling, and the cheese is heated through.

I hope you give this delicious, and so not disappointing
“Caprese” a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

8 oz log fresh goat cheese, cut into 4 equal pieces

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp basil chiffonade

16 cherry tomatoes, halved

freshly ground black pepper and cayenne, to taste

*bake at 400 degrees F. for about 15 minutes

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Oven baked fish with tomatoes and olives

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Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins
Total time: 25 mins
Skill level: Easy peasy
Costs: Mid-price

This recipe is quick and easy and makes a deliciously healthy light fish lunch or main meal. You can use any type of fish fillet such as cod, haddock or pollock so the recipe can be as costly or inexpensive as you like. Serve the fish with extra vegetables, a simple salad or sauté potatoes – delicious. The tomatoes add a rich flavour to the fish which works extremely well with the garlic and tangy olives. Sprinkle with spring onions and serve this fish with new potatoes and crisp, fresh salad.

Ingredients

500g cherry tomatoes, cut in half
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 spring onions, finely sliced
225g pitted green olives, halved
Grated zest and juice of 2 limes
4 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp fresh chopped coriander
4 white fish fillets e.g cod, haddock, pollock etc
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

That’s goodtoknow

You could add red peppers to the tomato mixture – deseed and cut into small pieces. Use lemons instead of limes and a mixture of fresh herbs instead of coriander.

Method

Preheat oven to 200⁰C/400⁰F/Fan 180⁰C/Gas Mark 6. Mix together the tomatoes, garlic, onions and olives.
Stir in the zest of two limes and juice of one of the limes, two tablespoons of the olive oil and half the coriander. Combine everything together well and season with salt and pepper. Spoon into an ovenproof dish.
Put the fish into second ovenproof dish and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Pour on the juice of the second lime.
Sprinkle on the remaining coriander and season with salt and pepper.
Put both dishes in the oven and bake for 10 – 15 minutes or until the fish fillets are opaque and fully cooked and the tomatoes are softened.
Serve the fish and top with the tomato and olive mixture. Pour over any remaining cooking juices.

By Cathy Seward

What do you think of this recipe? Leave us your comments, twist and handy tips.

More cathy seward recipes

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Under My Panzanella, ella, ella, ella…

I’ve never been a big fan of panzanella salad. I love the flavors in the dish, but stale, soggy bread just isn’t something I crave. The sogginess is understandable, as this dish was invented as a way to ingest rock-hard bread, but now that we’re just making it for fun, and not to avoid starvation, we can tweak a few things for texture’s sake.

The key is frying the bread cubes in loads of olive oil, in a skillet, which obviously makes them crispy, but the healthful fat also soaks in and renders them semi-waterproof, or should I say dressing-proof. The same goes for the dusting of Parmesan we apply halfway through.

You may be tempted to save some work and bake them in the oven, but don’t. By using the pan, you get nice, crispy surfaces, but the very center of the crouton stays just a touch chewy. The oven tends to dry the bread out, and you don’t get the same texture.

The gorgeous pool of tomato juices, oil, and wine vinegar will still soak in, and soften the bread, but you’ll still get a little crunch in each bite. For me this makes all the difference in the world. I know adding things like peppers, onions, and cucumbers is quite common, but I think they simply get in the way.

Having said that, it’s your “little swamp,” which is what “Panzanella” translates to, so throw in what you like. Speaking of which, I’m not giving ingredient amounts. I’ll give a ratio, and maybe a recommendation or two, but this isn’t the kind of recipe where you should be washing measuring cups and spoons. Taste and adust, and as always, enjoy!

Ingredients:

(I like equal parts bread cubes to tomato salad)

For the bread:

stale bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, soaked well with olive oil

enough finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano to cover bread

— fry until crispy and browned

For the tomato salad:

cherry tomatoes, halved

salt and pepper to taste

pinch of sugar
a little minced garlic

equal parts red wine vinegar and olive oil, to dress generously (add enough to create a very “swampy” mixture)

freshly sliced basil

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