Tomatoes are one of those ingredients that are just as good long cooked as they are freshly picked. This recipe goes for cooking, but to a sort of intermediary stage. The tomatoes roast just enough for the heat of the oven to heighten the natural sugars, but not so long that they break down completely. Blissfully simple and acting as a gentle wake-up, this is lovely as part of a weekend brunch meze because it goes so well with so many things. Note: my recipes call for 'severely roasted' nuts and seeds, which simply means dry-frying them until they are very dark and aromatic for a more pronounced taste. 'Severely' implies stopping just short of burning.
Serves: 4–6
Ingredients
● 4–6 large plum tomatoes
● 1 red onion, sliced into 4 rounds (or 6 if using 6 tomatoes)
● 25g unsalted butter, melted
● 4 garlic cloves, bashed
● A pinch of ground cinnamon
● 1 tsp coriander seeds
● Juice of 1 orange
● Salt and freshly ground black pepper
● 120g Greek yoghurt
● 80g whole almonds, severely roasted (see note above) and coarsely chopped
Method
● Preheat the oven to 200°C. Make horizontal slits all around each tomato, quite close together.
● Put the tomatoes and the onion slices on a baking tray and brush with the melted butter. Sprinkle with the garlic, cinnamon, coriander seeds, orange juice, salt and pepper.
● Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the garlic is soft, but do not overcook or the tomatoes will become too soft.
● To serve, put the roasted tomatoes and onion slices on plates alongside a dollop of yoghurt. Sprinkle over the almonds and top with the cooking juices and garlic from the baking tray. Serve lukewarm or at room temperature.
