LET´S MAKE ANTIPASTI - ROASTED GARLIC AND CHERRY TOMATOES + RECIPE

For many years, I have been planting my vegetables particularly the salad greens in cracker containers. The eggplants and the bell peppers are normally planted in 4 huge clay pots , but then I discovered huge plastic pots while visiting Hungary and I bought 4 of those. Plastic pots are good, they never ruin your back particularly when you move the plants here and there so they could get maximum sunlight. As usual, my container garden is on the top terrace to avoid the slugs.

All tomatoes used for my antipasti came from my home grown ones and am glad I have these green thumbs (hahaha..) that everything seemed to be growing healthy. I guess, I am blessed because every other day , tomatoes get that lovely orangy color and that would be the appropriate time to harvest them. Sometimes in one picking, I could gather around 1 kilo... and mind you, they are so awesomely crispy!!!

Cherry tomatoes sold in our local supermarkets during wintertime come from either Spain or Morocco and sometimes from Italy and The Netherlands. In Spain, they grow them in tents.. all those plastic tents can be seen from above the air when the airplanes pass-by these farms. Somehow, I can´t get used to the taste of the moroccan tomatoes, they have different taste than the ones grown in Spain.

This year , I got 2 newbie cherry tomatoes from the garden center and planted them in those 2 containers and each grew and grew to more than 2 meters high and started to flower, many flowers...hurray! Our weather had been nice so far this Summer and the tomatoes got the full sunshine they needed.

WHAT IS ANTIPASTOS OR ANTIPASTI?

These are the appetizers in italian meals. The first food that you get before the main course is served. You can have various food assortments ... like meat, cheese, veggies even fish. Olives and even various kinds of dried sausages, salami and baked bread are also common antipasti as well as drinks.

When you follow my recipe, it really does not matter whether the tomatoes were bought from your fave supermarket to make your own. But it´s best to keep in mind to buy those that are of quality and most importantly... if you could buy the organic ones, the better. I can only have peace of mind knowing that what I´m harvesting are organic ones. They are more aromatic and free from chemicals. There are also organic tomatoes sold by farmers in our area and I get them fresh while waiting for my own potted ones to start bearing the fruits of my labor .

And so, they get roasted in the oven and I put them in sterilized containers adding olive oil til the tomatoes are fully covered. This would prolong its shelf life just like the way Oma (hubby´s grandma) used to do it her way. The easiest way really to prepare them is to oven roast with lots of herbs. They can be used for almost any servings including merienda or snacks. I let the olive oil drip in a container before serving and I use the oil drippings for other cooking purposes because of its aroma and taste. The one side food I love to using the oil drippings with is for the Stir-fried rice or by simply topping a slice of baguette or brown bread with it.

THE RECIPE:

Garlic Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Ingredients:

800 grams cherry tomatoes, washed and dried-up
3 cloves of crushed garlic
1/2 tsp dried thymes
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 leaves bayleaf, each cut half
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/3 cup olive oil
salt & pepper
1 pinch of fine sugar

How to roast:

Pre heat oven to 200°C.

1...Line an oven tray with baking parchment/sheet.
Arrange the tomatoes on the tray, add the crushed garlic,
sprinkle the olive oil on top of the tomatoes and add the rest of the ingredients.
I use my hand to mix everything so that all other ingredients coat the tomatoes.

2...Place the oven tray on the lowest rack of the oven and roast tomatoes in the preheated
oven with temperature of 200°C for the first 20 minutes,
then reduce heat to 180°C and roast for another 30 minutes turning tomatoes every
now and then. the skin should get crumpled as in the pic below.

3...Remove the bay leaf and place the tomatoes in the sterilized jar, add the olive oil just to cover the tomatoes. Close the lid tightly and store in the refrigerator. Once opened, consumed within 3-4 days.

ENJOY MAKING THIS!

Mers
https://steemit.com/@mers

Note: All contents and photos on this blog are mine unless otherwise stated.