Mmmmm...tomatoes

I love tomatoes.  You name it, if tomatoes are involved, I'm all over it.  I also love garlic.  The first time I cooked for my husband, I think it was our second date, I made spaghetti with meat sauce.  I used so much garlic in my sauce that my husband got sick.  You see, for someone that was used to food on the more bland end of the spectrum, the sudden influx of garlic triggered a major detox. Nevertheless, the spaghetti was wonderful and he stuck around.  Now he's used to garlic and other flavors :)

Last month I was paging through the new issue of Better Homes and Gardens and I came across this recipe.  Wow. Even before I read the recipe the picture had me hooked and I just knew I had to try it.  Luckily, a couple weeks later, my husband decided to go out of town for the weekend with our daughter so I decided to host a wine and appetizers party with my girlfriends.

I was not disappointed!

Ingredients

• 1-1/2  lb.  cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1/4  to 1/2 cup  extra virgin olive oil
• 7  cloves  garlic, peeled, split lengthwise and green shoot removed
• 1  bunch  fresh mint, trimmed
• 1  to 2 tsp.  coarse or flake salt
• 1  tsp.  freshly ground black pepper
•     toasted slices of rustic bread
•     Goat cheese (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Wash and drain tomatoes well. Pat dry with paper towels.
2. In a nonreactive (such as earthenware) 2-quart baking dish place tomatoes in a single layer. Pour on olive oil so they are very well coated and there should be a thin layer (1/8 inch) of oil on bottom of dish. Toss in garlic, mint, salt and pepper.
3. Bake, uncovered, for 45 to 60 minutes or until tomato skins split and soften but tomatoes still retain their shape.
4. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. Spoon or mash over slices of toasted bread and serve with goat cheese. Makes 8 servings.

I used basil instead of mint and didn't use any goat cheese but it was still uh-mazing! I doubled the recipe so I did have some left over. To use it up, I added it to my homemade marinara sauce.  (I'll post that recipe another time)

So, what are your food passions?  Have you ever seen a picture of something and fallen in love at first sight?  Let me know!

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