Roated "amoroso" tomatoes on toasted Olive ciabatta

Continuing on from our Summer Antipasto I wanted to highlight some of the options individually and how you can utilise them as other dishes. Take for example our roasted amoroso tomatoes and olive ciabatta bread. These two items are another one of those relationships that were destined to be together. I mean how could they fail. The tomatoes are so juicy and sweet this time of the year. Ripe and ready! None of those floury varieties those multi chains like to push on us.

These were quite medium in size. Not too small or large. Preparing them is very simple. Give them a good rinse, wipe them and place them in a baking pan. Make sure you're oven is at about 200 deg C and smokin hot! Drizzle them with a good high quality extra virgin olive oil and if you like, a splash of balsamic. Sprinkle on some sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Pop them in the oven and leave them to roast for about half an hour. Once they're done leave them cool for a little while. We don't want to burn our mouths!

I had visited my local baker in the morning and he had some wonderful ciabatta bread made with the addition of olives. My mind went into overdrive as I thought of the endless possibilities that could be achieved with this bread. I simply sliced it and drizzled some more of that lovely extra virgin olive oil (I can't help it..its addictive!). I then "toasted" it , by placing in one of those groovy pans that have ridges. I made sure it was hot before I put the bread in and I "toasted" each side for about 2 mins. Now its very easy to construct. Put the tomatoes on top of the freshly "toasted" bread and drizzle some basil paste. For the final touch drizzle some more olive oil around the plate. How easy is that for a starter. Summer or not!

Tags:recipes quick antipasto

A selection of goodies

Happy 2008 everyone! The new year saw us sweltering here in Sydney. With temperatures in the mid to high 30's I was at a loss at what to cook. Nobody wants to be stuck in a hot kitchen sweating away. This is where the famous Italian antipasto or Greek "meze" come into play. It's very simple to throw a few things together and nibble at a little bit of everything. Plump, marinated Kalamata and green olives. Freshly sliced cucumbers. Quick roasted tomatoes. Cold meats, tzatziki and toasted olive ciabatta. Let your taste buds have fun. Throw in a good bottle of wine and before you know it, lunch is served.

For now I'll make this a visual feast. I'll follow with recipes and ingenious ways to use them over the next few days. Now get ready to drool...


Get creative with ingredients lying around


Lay out a spread...let everyone help themselves





Succulent cold meats...Hot Salami, Mortadella and Sopressa


Lots of olives...

Tags:quick recipes Summer antipasto