Sunday, July 26, 2009

Honey Tomato Bruschetta with Ricotta


Yes I'm still on my tomato kick, it may last for another month or so, so please bear with me. I promise to never bring you something dull, like the tomato sandwich on white bread with mayo and salt that I just gobbled up. I came across this bruschetta recipe by cookbook author Susan Spungen the other day. Ive always been a fan of sweet and savory recipes like this one. Recently at the farmers market I was actually asked what I did with all these tomatoes, as I have been stopping by weekly picking up a bucket of assorted tomatoes. I was about to say, 'going home to make honey tomato bruschetta...' I thought that sounded kind of obnoxious, so I said 'lots and lots of tomato sauce.' The woman at the farmers stand seemed satisfied with the answer, bagged my tomatoes and said she looked forward to seeing me next week. Driving home I felt a wee bit bad about my white lie, perhaps Ill bring her a sample of my honey tomato bruschetta next time I swing by.

  • 2 pints of cherry or grape tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 Tb olive oil
  • 3 Tb clover honey
  • 2 ts thyme leaves
  • 1 ts kosher salt
  • ground pepper
  • 12 baguette slices cut 1/2 inch thick
  • 1 cup fresh ricotta (I drove 20 minutes to get the good stuff from a little Italian market)
  • 6 basil leaves thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl toss the tomatoes with the olive oil, 2 Tb honey, thyme leaves, salt and pepper. Place the tomato mixture on the baking sheet with tomatoes turned cut side up. Bake for about 1 and 1/2 hours until the are shriveled and brown. Let cool.

Preheat broiler. Spread out baguette slices on a baking sheet. Broil for about 30 seconds on each side until the edges are lightly brown. Spread the ricotta over the baguette slices and top with the tomatoes. Lightly drizzle with the last Tb honey, sprinkle with the sliced basil. Ok folks, lets put it this way. First you have the crunch of the baguette, then the creaminess of the ricotta, the roasted flavor of the tomato and finally the sweetness from the clover honey. Do I sound like Rachel Ray or what? I'm not even a fan.

24 comments:

  1. I will be on the tomato kick till I die! My favorite food :) This sounds good with the ricotta!

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  2. Oh my, couldn't be more perfect then this delicious litle bites!

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  3. looks great! Thanks for stopping by my blog. My tomatoes are just coming in and there are a ton!

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  4. I love how you grab onto an ingredient and make millions of different things with it. Completely relate to that! :)

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  5. It's tomato season! Bury me with tomato recipes! Pelt me ith them! I love it. What an original bruschetta. Very tasty. May even make my own ricotta!

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  6. mmm . . . I love appetizers like this! little pockets of goodness. I've made a fig compote too topped with crispy prosciutto and goat cheese :) Thanks for visiting my blog and by the looks of it I love your recipes :)
    kristen

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  7. Looks delish! I love tomatoes so post away! :)

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  8. I love the tomato & ricotta combination...delicious!

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  9. oh this so perfect! I love the flavor combinations..honey with tomato and ricotta and basil! Perfect! This combo would also be SO good on pizza!

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  10. This sounds utterly delicious with both the honey and the ricotta.

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  11. What a fabulous flavor combination with honey, tomatoes, and fresh ricotta - sounds absolutely delicious!

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  12. I never get tired of finding yummy tomato recipes. This one looks like another winner! :0)

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  13. Bet this recipe really brings out the fruity qualities of the tomatoes!

    Think this could also make up for less-than-seasonal tomatoes? Am thinking a bit of honey could perk up those winter grape tomatoes from the market!

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  14. Thanks for dropping by my blog. Love your series of posts on tomatoes. I can get many varieties of them in Spain and I'll be browsing through the rest of your posts today. :)

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  15. yummy! Oh, I will try this!

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  16. When my tomatoes ripen up - I'm making these!
    I love this twist on the classic - thanks for sharing!

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  17. What a delicious appy! Yum!

    Great blog!!!

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  18. I love little bites like these. Yum! They look delicious :)

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  19. What a great recipe. I don't eat a lot of bread normally, but for parties, this would be terrific as an appetizer. I just filled my freezer with roasted and grilled tomato soup purees and can't wait to finish eating them. All I have to do is add broth and I have instant soup.

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  20. I love tomatoes! This recipe looks great and I can't wait to try it tonight.

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  21. This sounds amazing! I want to be a guest at your next dinner party!

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  22. These sound so great! Bruschetta is one of my fave appetizers and I love it when there are creative touches like this.

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  23. A lot of us really like tomatoes so your recipes are not going to waste. This one sounds fantastic.

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