slow-roasted tomato & ricotta bruschetta
on Jun 03, 2014, Updated Jul 30, 2019
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For years I shared an apartment in Greece with my wonderful friend Sarah. If the walls had had ears, they could probably write a book or two about the conversations we had. We cooked and giggled and gossiped and stayed up far too late watching episode after episode of whatever TV series we were hooked on at the time (Alias or 24, anyone? Yes, it was that long ago!) We had so much fun, but one thing I realised pretty quickly was that it wasn’t a good idea to talk about anything I was even a bit concerned about at night.
A typical such not-a-good-idea conversation would go something like this. Me: ‘Oh no, I’ve got to go to the tax office tomorrow before work. Oh my goodness, I’m going to be tired. I bet there’ll be a really long queue and I’ll be late for work.’ Sarah: ‘Oh no, don’t be silly. It’ll be fine.’ Me: ‘I don’t think so. Everyone’s going to start pushing and shoving and I might not have all the papers they need. Then I’ll have to go again and that’ll be awful, too.’ And so we went on. As far as I was concerned, it was ALL bad!
In the morning, the glass would be half full again and I’d wonder why I’d freaked out so much over such a tiny little thing as having to go to the tax office (in Greece, that usually is a pretty frightful experience, but still, in the grand scheme of things it was nothing, let’s face it). I still have a tendency to react like this (< Mr. Scrummy nodding in the background), so now I try to follow my self-imposed ‘rule’ about not dealing with tricky things when I’m tired. This doesn’t always work, though. Take a few days ago when I decided to try making some veggie burgers. Basically, they didn’t turn out how I was hoping. OK, no big deal really, but I was left feeling a bit frustrated about all the ingredients I’d bought and lugged home from the shops on foot and all the time I’d spent trying to create these burgers that had been so great in my mind.
Afterwards, Mr. Scrummy and I went for a little walk and, tired, I started to grumble and worry aloud about all sorts of things (Me: ‘Now I need to find another recipe to post tomorrow. I can’t find any ricotta cheese. We don’t have a car to go and look for some. How come we can’t just get somewhere to live and be normal?’ etc. etc. etc.) Everything was baaaaad, just like in my midnight conversations with my friend.
Oh dear. Time to chill out and make something simple that I knew couldn’t really fail. Enter these slow-roasted tomato and ricotta bruschetta, the recipe for which I shamelessly barely adapted from the latest issue of the UK Delicious magazine where I always seem to find a great recipe in a pinch. To make these I knew I wouldn’t have to struggle too much to manage without my favourite appliances or find everything in a kitchen not my own; just because it was so simple.
So, so simple, in fact. Just toss a selection of mini tomatoes (different colours, if you can find them) with good quality olive oil, crushed garlic, fennel seeds and a little sugar, then slow roast for an hour. Char-grill slices of crusty bread on a griddle pan such as this one, then top with a mixture of ricotta and lemon zest followed by the beautifully sweet and sticky tomatoes and some fresh basil leaves. Honestly, one of the most delicious little snacks I’ve had in ages. And I even had this ‘little helper’ while I was taking my photos:
So how do you react when things don’t go according to plan? Do you freak out a bit like me (especially when tired!) or take it all in your stride? If you’re in the second group, give me some lessons … please!
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slow-roasted tomato & ricotta bruschetta
Ingredients
- 10 ounces mixed baby tomatoes, I used a pack of 3 different types
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil plus a little extra for drizzling
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
- zest of 1/2 a lemon
- 4 slices of fresh crusty bread, I used sourdough
- fresh basil, to serve
- salt and pepper for seasoning
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 300F/150C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Put the tomatoes, oil, garlic & fennel in a bowl and toss to combine, then tip out onto the baking tray and bake for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, mix the lemon zest into the ricotta. After the tomatoes are done (they should be golden and sticky), set them aside to cool a little while you char-grill the bread on both sides on a hot griddle pan
. - Spread the toasts with the lemony ricotta, spoon over the tomatoes and juices (pour and scrape the juices off the baking tray and onto the toasts) and scatter each with a few of the basil leaves. Lastly, grind over plenty of salt and a little pepper, drizzle over a little more olive oil and serve. Mmmm!
.Notes
Nutrition
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Oh, I love bruschetta! And the oven roasted tomatoes must be so sweet and tasty, I’m getting really hungry actually! 🙂
And I think everybody knows this view on things when they are tired… Always not that bad in the morning..
Yes, it’s a cliche, isn’t it, that things ‘will be better in the morning’, but it’s so true! So glad you like the bruschetta – it was definitely a keeper as far as I’m concerned.
I can totally relate Helen! I can get the same way sometimes, especially on Sunday nights. I try and allow myself just 5 minutes of “self pity”, then I let it go and try and find the bright side of things.
These ricotta and slow roasted tomato bruschetta sounds amazing! Perfect summer time appetizer. I could easily turn this into a meal paired with some salad. Yum!
What a great plan … a ‘5-minute only’ self-pity party! Love it!
I definitely think you could make this into a meal with a salad. Now I’m even thinking you could add a little prosciutto or bacon … mmmm!
Tomatoes and cheese! Perfect summer topping for bread 🙂
Your parents’ cat is adorable. What a cute face <3
Isn’t he? Unfortunately, I’m allergic to him so I have to try not to get too close!
I want to devour all this amazing bruschetta… and then I want to cuddle with that kitty! 🙂
This cat is so cute, Pamela. He ‘waits’ on the driveway for my parents to come home every day. He’s nearly 18 years old as well!
Yes, I do freak out a bit and I have to remind myself to take a deep breath, focus, and get it done! Sometimes I just over think things, but the simplest things are often the best. This bruschetta looks rustic and fresh, and the colors are gorgeous! I would just love a plateful of this today! 🙂
I’m the queen of over-thinking, Marcie! But that’s good advice to just focus and get it done. I find that the thought of something is nearly always much worse than the reality, anyway. So glad you like the bruschetta. It was absolutely delicious, I have to say, and I’ll definitely be making it again soon.
You said it yourself, in the grand scheme of things… My motto always is, it’s not the end of the world. Being anxious or nervous or worried doesn’t make anything better, so you might as well be happy and positive. But you do sound like a very passionate young lady! And those bruschetta are absolutely beautiful!!!
Hello, Mimi! That’s a great motto and one that I need to get into the habit of remembering. You are so right that worry and anxiety don’t change a thing other than making you miserable. So glad you like the bruschetta!
This looks amazing! Our farmers market (finally!) opens this weekend, I can’t wait to get some beautiful fresh tomatoes to make this! And I am exactly like you, I tend to look at the negative side of things at night too. My mom would always say “Don’t worry, things will look better in the morning” and more often than not, she was exactly right!
Freshly-picked farmer’s market tomatoes would be perfect for this, Annie. I hope you enjoy it – I will definitely be making it again as it tastes so so good for the amount of work you have to put in i.e. hardly any!
Your mom was definitely right about things always looking better in the morning. I just need to remember that more often!
Oh my gosh, I totally remember Alias! Blast from the past! I also get a little worked up over things, particularly when I’m over-tired (which is often!). I can’t cope without sleep! I’ve had times where I’ve wanted to blog something, then it SUCKED, and then I have no idea what to post… but then magic things come out of that suckiness! Like these amazing looking roasted tomato bruchetta!!! I love oven-roasted tomatoes more than you can even imagine. So. Good. I also love your peppermill more than you can even imagine!
Once for a freelance recipe, I had to make a giant torte about 5 times, and felt so discouraged, like I was wasting all of my money on ingredients and time on this thing. I took breaks in-between and went for a walk with my dog. It really helped to clear my mind and approach the situation with new eyes. It eventually turned out, luckily! But other than that, I don’t have any advice. I think bruschetta is probably the answer to all of life’s problems though! 😉
I wish that peppermill was mine, Allison (it’s actually my parents’) but yes, isn’t it great?! I’m glad I’m not the only one around here old enough to remember Alias. I LOVED Sydney and totally wanted to be her! (maybe apart from the part right in the first episode where she gets her teeth pulled out!)
I certainly feel better about my ONE veggie burger disaster now that I’ve read this story about your torte! Oh my goodness, I can’t even begin to imagine how I’d feel about making something five times!
So glad you like the bruschetta. I figured that something so simple just couldn’t go wrong, and I was right. 😉
Helen, these look delicious, as usual. What else would I expect from you!
Now I’ve made variations of this but never with lemony ricotta. You threw me for a loop with a lemony ricotta, I’m sitting here trying to think about how that would taste =)
Crusty bread + roasted tomatoes + cheese = pure joy.
I really appreciate all the pretty colored tomatoes. Just threw in some yellow cherry tomatoes in my garden. Can’t wait to try this when they come to fruition.
And yes, I totally stress too! Wake up at usually 2 or 3 in the morning stressing because the cat is sneezing too much or something equally ridiculous and then can’t fall back asleep.
Well, I promise you, Laura, the ricotta tastes great with the lemon zest in it! You could easily leave that out though if you weren’t sure, of course. How lovely that you’re growing some yellow cherry tomatoes! I felt really lucky to find this selection of tomatoes that I used. The orange ones just seemed to take the whole dish up a level in the ‘prettiness’ department.
Now I’m imagining your cat sneezing and sneezing and sneezing … ! 😉
Helen, je veux le même toast pour midi! Elle est si appétissant, j’adore ces types des recettes, facile à réaliser et tellement bon!
Je suis plutôt dans le premier group, quand je suis fatiguée, je vois tout en noir et pleins des recettes part à la poubelle! Malheureusement la vie est comme ça mais c’est tellement bien quand on réussir!
Le chat de tes parents et très mignon!
Je te suis déjà en Facebook! pour l’instant je n’est pas de instagram mais je voulais me mètre! C’est difficile?
Eva, j’ai juste commence avec Instagram and c’est tres facile. Le seule ‘probleme’, c’est qu’on a besoin d’un portable ‘Android’ pour downloader le ‘app’ … et, ca y est!
Je suis tres heureuse que je suis pas la seule qui vois tout en noir parfois! 🙂 Mais tu as raison, c’est tellement mieux quand on reussit enfin!
Je te souhaite une tres bonne journee (et tres bon dejeuner en plus!) 🙂