Caprese Crazy [roasted tomato caprese salad]

I don’t like salad.  It tastes bad.  Really, it’s the lettuce.  The lettuce tastes bad.

People swear that it doesn’t have a taste, but it does.  It tastes like crunchy water.  Ew.

I try, try, try to like salad, I do.  Who doesn’t eat salad?

I am getting a little better.  I eat two distinct salads.

The first is composed solely of spinach leaves, lemon vinaigrette and shaved parmesan.

The second is Caprese salad.  A classic combination of flavors, and my favorite (yes, of only two) “raw” food.

Tomatoes are a seasonal thing so I always figured I’d better have at it in the late summer because come October, it was back to roasted vegetables for this picky eater.

And then Ina changed all that.

Slow roasting the tomatoes in the oven creates an almost sun-dried tomato flavor.  The cheese melts ever-so-slightly when you lay it atop the slices, and a sprinkle of basil and olive oil is all you need to enjoy a summer treat in the thick of winter.

I cut Ina’s recipe in half…

You will need:

• 6 plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed (if you’re picky about that kind of thing)
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced (No, I didn’t reduce the amount of garlic.  I could eat roasted garlic till I die.)
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt
• pepper
• 8 oz. fresh mozzerella (bagged and shredded is a big no-no here)
• 6 fresh basil leaves, cut in a chiffonade

Preheat the oven to 275.

Lay the tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet (jelly-roll pan).  Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Sprinkle with garlic.  If you’re like me, you will meticulously place the garlic directly on the tomatoes, so as not to waste any of that savory goodness once it’s been roasted.  Sprinkle with sugar, salt, pepper, and roast for 2 hours.

Then, just layer the tomatoes with slices of mozzerella and top with the basil.  You can drizzle a little more olive oil on top if you think the tomatoes need it.

Enjoy in every month except August and September.  Then you should make it fresh.