Vine-Ripened Roast Tomatoes with Pesto & Burrata
My best friend made this for a perfect Sunday lunch and I just had to share my version of this recipe.
This recipe is really the kind of paired down simplicity we need for easy entertaining, when it’s about having friends over and connecting over a meal cooked with love.
Simplicity needs VERY good ingredients
A very good extra-virgin olive oil – I am a little obsessed with olive oil and it is really my no1 ingredient in my kitchen. If you are lucky enough, the last of the summer tomatoes will coincide with the first press of NEW SEASON OLIVE OIL in Autumn, such a treat. I love the Marais family’s oil and their new season olive oil is stunning. You can order some here.
The better the tomatoes the better the dish – I REALLY take my tomatoes seriously and there is actually not really any point in buying supermarket tomatoes that are grown in hothouses and artificially ripened. I get my seasonal tomatoes from Oranjezicht Farmer Market, Wild Organics or Those Who Harvest.
And YES I do buy tomatoes in winter, but because they are inferior in taste (sour), I prefer to roast them which helps bring out their natural sweetness.
A slice of heaven: burrata
For those who have never eaten burrata cheese – you are in for a treat. Burrata is an Italian cheese made essentially just like mozzarella but filled with cream. Its heavenly!
You can find burrata cheese at any great deli or farmers market. I get mine from Puglia cheese here in Cape Town (at Oranjezicht Farmers Market).
Roasted Vine Ripened Tomatoes with Pesto & Burrata
Equipment
- NutriBullet or Mortar & Pestle (pesto)
Ingredients
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 450 g vine ripened large tomatoes
- 250 g vine ripened cherry tomatoes
- 1 bulb garlic cloves removed (two cloves peeled)
- 20 g basil leaves - reserve baby basil leaves for the topping
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds toasted
- 1 lemon
- 2 x burrata or fresh buffalo mozzarella balls
- 5 slices good sourdough bread
- flaky sea salt & pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200c and remove the burrata from the fridge to come to room temperature.
- Add the vine tomatoes (vine and all) and whole garlic cloves (skins on) to a deep rimmed ceramic baking tray (pretty enough to serve straight from the oven), season generously with olive oil, flaky sea salt and pepper. Roast in the oven until the tomatoes have burst open and oozing a bit - remove. Either leave the garlic cloves in the skins or peel them.
- While the tomatoes are roasting, add the basil leaves to the blender or M&P along with the sunflower seeds, bash or pulse until a rough paste form. It's really important to season your pesto well, so add a good pinch of salt, pepper, lemon zest and a small squeeze lemon juice, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Add enough olive oil to the pesto to form a scoop-able paste.
- Add the sliced sourdough to a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and toast in the oven for 5-7 minutes until golden, remove and rub the warm toasts with a clove or two of garlic - pure bliss.
- When you are ready to serve, tear the burrata in the corners of the baking tray with the tomatoes, add a few drizzles pesto over the the cheese followed by a generous drizzle olive oil before finally seasoning with flaky sea salt and pepper. Top with lemon zest and baby basil leaves. Serve alongside the bruschetta (toast) and the pesto. Enjoy.
