Recipes

Marinated tomatoes with ricotta, aged balsamic & bread crisps

Gary O'Hanlon
Sat Jul 2 2016 - 04:00
Serves: 6
Course: Starter
Cooking Time: 0 hr 20 mins
Ingredients
  • Serves sixYou will need a digital thermometer to make the ricotta25-30 small to medium ripe tomatoes
  • 3 litres water
  • 30 fresh basil leaves
  • Fine sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper
  • 18 thin slices of French baguette (sprinkled with salt and baked until crisp in an oven at 200 degrees/gas 6 for five minutes)
  • Marinade:200g tomato puree
  • 2 tsp chopped thyme
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • Half a tbsp fine sea salt
  • 2 pinches saffron
  • 25ml aged balsamic (plus six tbsp to finish each plate)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 15ml olive oil
  • Ricotta:2 litres full fat milk
  • Juice of 2 lemons
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 3 pinches salt
  • Serves sixYou will need a digital thermometer to make the ricotta25-30 small to medium ripe tomatoes
  • 3 litres water
  • 30 fresh basil leaves
  • Fine sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper
  • 18 thin slices of French baguette (sprinkled with salt and baked until crisp in an oven at 200 degrees/gas 6 for five minutes)
  • Marinade:200g tomato puree
  • 2 tsp chopped thyme
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • Half a tbsp fine sea salt
  • 2 pinches saffron
  • 25ml aged balsamic (plus six tbsp to finish each plate)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 15ml olive oil
  • Ricotta:2 litres full fat milk
  • Juice of 2 lemons
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 3 pinches salt
  • Serves sixYou will need a digital thermometer to make the ricotta25-30 small to medium ripe tomatoes
  • 3 litres water
  • 30 fresh basil leaves
  • Fine sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper
  • 18 thin slices of French baguette (sprinkled with salt and baked until crisp in an oven at 200 degrees/gas 6 for five minutes)
  • Marinade:200g tomato puree
  • 2 tsp chopped thyme
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • Half a tbsp fine sea salt
  • 2 pinches saffron
  • 25ml aged balsamic (plus six tbsp to finish each plate)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 15ml olive oil
  • Ricotta:2 litres full fat milk
  • Juice of 2 lemons
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 3 pinches salt
  • Serves sixYou will need a digital thermometer to make the ricotta25-30 small to medium ripe tomatoes
  • 3 litres water
  • 30 fresh basil leaves
  • Fine sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper
  • 18 thin slices of French baguette (sprinkled with salt and baked until crisp in an oven at 200 degrees/gas 6 for five minutes)
  • Marinade:200g tomato puree
  • 2 tsp chopped thyme
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • Half a tbsp fine sea salt
  • 2 pinches saffron
  • 25ml aged balsamic (plus six tbsp to finish each plate)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 15ml olive oil
  • Ricotta:2 litres full fat milk
  • Juice of 2 lemons
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 3 pinches salt

Bring the water to the boil. Take out the core of the tomatoes and make a criss-cross incision about half a millimetre on the opposite side with the tip of a knife. Drop the tomatoes into boiling water for approximately 15 seconds then scoop them out into a pre-prepared bowl of iced water. Leave them there for five minutes, then peel off the skin. For the marinade: Place all the ingredients into a pot and mix well. Place it on a medium heat and bring to the boil, stirring every few minutes. Leave to simmer for 10 minutes.

Place all the tomatoes in a small bowl and pour the hot marinade over them. Leave in a warm place for 12 hours, then transfer to the fridge for a further 12 hours. (Remove from the marinade one hour before serving and leave at room temperature). For the ricotta: Heat the milk to 80-90 degrees Celsius, use a digital thermometer to make sure you're accurate. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice, rice wine vinegar and salt. Stir this for 20-30 seconds, non-stop. Let it sit for 15 minutes, then scoop it out into a sieve. Leave for two hours in the fridge to set (longer if you'd prefer a stiffer cheese).

Spoon out the cheese into dollops and season with fine sea salt and black pepper. To serve, divide the tomatoes and cheese between six plates, drizzle aged balsamic over each one, and place bread crisps and basil leaves on each plate.

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