San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Olive Oil-Poached Early Girl Tomatoes
Serves 6
This is by far my favorite way to cook tomatoes in the height of summer. If you can’t find Early Girls, any tomato the size of a tennis ball or smaller will work. Make sure they are all roughly the same size so they cook evenly. There are countless ways to serve these tender tomatoes and the olive oil: with grilled steak, on garlic bread or atop an herb-forward pasta. Here I suggest serving them with labneh and fresh cucumbers.
Total time: 45 minutes plus 15 minutes to cool
12-15 small Early Girl tomatoes, fresh, ripe and firm
(about 2 pounds)
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 orange
10 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoon dried chile flakes such as cayenne, Piment d’espelette or Marash
1 to 1½ cups extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup labneh (optional)
5 small Persian cucumbers, cut into 1-inch chunks
(optional)
Instructions: Fill a large pot with water, cover and bring to boil. While the water is heating, prepare the tomatoes by making 2 shallow intersecting slits, an X mark, into the stem area of the tomatoes. Alternatively, if you have a melon baller, core the stem area. Set the tomatoes aside and prepare an ice bath in a large bowl.
Gently transfer half of the tomatoes into the boiling water with a slotted spoon and cook for 20-25 seconds. Transfer them to the prepared ice bath and swish the tomatoes around in the ice to cool quickly. Repeat this process with the other half of the tomatoes. Once the tomatoes are cool, take the tomatoes out and discard the ice water. Working from the scored edge, gently peel the skins off, revealing the flesh. Discard skins.
Heat your oven to 375 degrees.
Place the tomatoes, scored-side down, into a straightsided oven-safe baking pan, such as an 11 by 7 by 1½-inch glass baking dish. Season the tops and sides of the tomatoes with the sea salt. It’ll look like a lot of salt, but it is necessary since some of it will be diluted into the olive oil later on. Zest the orange over the top of the tomatoes, then cut the orange into ½-inch wedges. Tuck the wedges and the garlic cloves in between the tomatoes. Sprinkle the ground chile flakes over the top of the tomatoes. Let sit out at room temp for 15 minutes so the tomatoes start to absorb the salt.
Pour 1 cup olive oil into the baking dish to cover the tomatoes about halfway up; use more olive oil only if necessary. Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Transfer to the middle rack of the oven and bake until small bubbles begin to rise from the oil, 20-25 minutes.
Take the pan of tomatoes out of the oven, uncover and let cool to just warm to the touch, about 10-15 minutes. The tomatoes can be served warm or at room temperature. If you choose to serve with the optional labneh and cucumbers: Spread the labneh on a serving plate and top with the poached tomatoes, orange wedges, some of the poaching olive oil and the cucumbers.
Store any leftover tomatoes and oil in a flat layer in an airtight container. To reheat, gently simmer the tomatoes in their oil on the stovetop or place in the oven at 250 degrees.