Marinated Peppered Goat Cheese and Roasted Tomatoes
"A light and lovely summer appetizer which you can start the day before you serve, or begin in the morning and enjoy in the afternoon. This is a place to splurge and use really good, fruity olive oil and really good balsamic."
- Ready In:
- 4hrs 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 9
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 8 roma tomatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds total)
- 3⁄4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- salt & freshly ground black pepper
- 4 -6 ounces goat cheese
- cracked black pepper
- 2 teaspoons oregano, fresh, chopped
- 1⁄4 lb olive (about 20 Kalamata or Nicoise)
- 4 sprigs oregano
directions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
- Peel the tomatoes, halve them the long way and remove the seeds.
- In a baking pan, place the tomatoes cut side down on a rack. Roast in the oven until the tomatoes have shriveled to about half their original size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove the pan from the oven and let the tomatoes cool.
- In a medium-size nonreactive bowl, combine the tomatoes, 1/4 cup of the olive oil, the vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Set aside but do not refrigerate.
- Divide the cheese into four portions and sprinkle with the cracked pepper.
- In a large shallow bowl or gratin dish, pour 1/2 cup olive oil over the cheese. Add more oil if this does not cover the cheese.
- Sprinkle with the chopped oregano and let sit for at least 2 hours, or up to 4 hours, at room temperature. (If you wish to make it a day in advance, then refrigerate the cheese in the oil. Remove from the refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving.).
- To assemble, carefully remove the cheese from the olive oil and place each piece on an individual plate.
- Drizzle with some of the olive oil in which the cheese was marinating. Place 4 pieces of tomato and 5-6 olives on each plate.
- Top with a sprig of oregano.
- You may assemble the plates up to 1 hour before serving and cover them tightly with plastic wrap.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Chef Kate
Annapolis, 60
<p>I have always loved to cook. When I was little, I cooked with my Grandmother who had endless patience and extraordinary skill as a baker. And I cooked with my Mother, who had a set repertoire, but taught me many basics. Then I spent a summer with a French cousin who opened up a whole new world of cooking. And I grew up in New York City, which meant that I was surrounded by all varieties of wonderful food, from great bagels and white fish to all the wonders of Chinatown and Little Italy, from German to Spanish to Mexican to Puerto Rican to Cuban, not to mention Cuban-Chinese. And my parents loved good food, so I grew up eating things like roasted peppers, anchovies, cheeses, charcuterie, as well as burgers and the like. In my own cooking I try to use organics as much as possible; I never use canned soup or cake mix and, other than a cheese steak if I'm in Philly or pizza by the slice in New York, I don't eat fast food. So, while I think I eat and cook just about everything, I do have friends who think I'm picky--just because the only thing I've ever had from McDonald's is a diet Coke (and maybe a frie or two). I have collected literally hundreds of recipes, clipped from the Times or magazines, copied down from friends, cajoled out of restaurant chefs. Little by little, I am pulling out the ones I've made and loved and posting them here. Maybe someday, every drawer in my apartment won't crammed with recipes. (Of course, I'll always have those shelves crammed with cookbooks.) I'm still amazed and delighted by the friendliness and the incredible knowledge of the people here. 'Zaar has been a wonderful discovery for me.</p>
