Roasted Tomato Jellies
Posted on | June 8, 2010 | No Comments
A perfect and easy summer dish for all those leftover tomatoes
At a recent afternoon party, I found, much to my dismay, that “meat only” sandwiches are apparently in vogue. Thus, I had a TON of lettuce and leftover beef tomato slices, initially intended for sub sandwiches, with no readily apparent home.
The lettuce was gonzo, but what to do with already-sliced tomatoes that surely wouldn’t last the weekend?
I began looking through my pantry, which was a bit on the skimpy side in terms of creative devices and alas I found a box of always useful gelatin packets and I had my idea.
First, roast tomatoes in a pan. Add crushed garlic, a swig of olive oil, Mr. S and Mrs. P. 1.5 tbls dried basil if you have it. Fresh is even better, and will come in handy later.
Remove from oven after about 30-35 minutes roasting on 400 degrees. Check the tomatoes often. They should not burn against the bottom of the pan. If this begins to happen, turn down the temp.
Add to bowl and let cool for a few minutes and then add to food processor. It won’t take much to break the tomatoes down to a chunky liquid.
Push tomato liquid into a bowl through a sieve or fine colander to remove the larger chunks.
Add the gelatin per the instructions. Once the mixture is ready, add the roasted tomato gelatin mixture to a container of your choice. I used an ice tray, but you might try silpat and a cookie cutter to create a flatter , more artistic dish. No snowmen, please. Tomato snowmen are just weird.
Place in the fridge on a stable surface.
Once the mixture is cool. remove the jelly cubes — probably an hour at least. Cut thin — slightly larger than a Ritz cracker if you can imagine that.
Lay jelly atop a melba toast or thin slice of crunch bread. Mozz would have been good here, but all I had was goat cheese. So, crumble some goat cheese atop the jelly. Then, cut up a bit of fresh basil – tear it if you’re hard core — and then crack some black pepper and drop a pinch of sea salt over the top. Add a quick drizzle of olive oil and you’re all set. You’ll be amazed by the tomato flavor.
Perfect for the end of summer, but it will also work into the fall. If you’re making this in the winter, ditch the mozz and serve atop cooked and cooled Parm crisps.
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