Best Melted Tomatoes Recipes

HERB-ROASTED CHICKEN WITH MELTED TOMATOES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Pulse the onion, parsley, cilantro, tarragon, 2 tablespoons dill, the walnuts and garlic in a food processor. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil, the vinegar, 2 teaspoons salt, and pepper to taste; pulse until smooth.
• Stir half of the herb paste with the yogurt in a small bowl; cover and refrigerate.
• Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Loosen the skin with your fingers; rub some of the remaining herb paste under the skin and the rest on the outside of the bird. Truss the chicken. Place in a roasting pan; roast until the skin turns golden, about 30 minutes.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Toss the tomatoes with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a bowl; season with salt and pepper. Baste the chicken with the drippings and add the tomatoes, cut-side down, to the pan. Continue roasting until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh registers 155 degrees, about 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper; let the chicken rest 10 minutes before carving.
• Arrange the chicken and tomatoes on a platter; sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons dill. Serve with the yogurt sauce.

BEEF ROAST WITH MELTED TOMATOES AND ONIONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Season roast with salt and pepper. In a large heavy pot or Dutch oven, heat oil to very hot. Sear roast on all sides until crusty dark brown, at least 3 to 4 minutes a side. Do not move roast around while searing, as this will prevent crust from forming.
• Add onions, garlic, tomatoes and thyme to pot. Stir and cook vegetables 3 to 4 minutes. Add water to come a third of the way up the roast. Place pot in oven, uncovered.
• Braise about 1 to 2 hours depending on size, until meat thermometer inserted into center registers about 135 degrees (medium rare). Do not overcook. Remove from oven, tent with aluminum foil, and let rest 10 minutes. Transfer to carving board or platter and serve with tomatoes, onions and pan juices.

GRILLED EGGPLANT WITH TOMATOES AND MELTED CHEDDAR

Steps:

• Chop garlic; sprinkle with salt and mash into puree with blade of knife held sideways. Scrape garlic-salt mixture into small bowl.
• Add oil, oregano and pepper and stir until garlic-salt mixture is well blended.
• Preheat gas or charcoal grill to medium.
• Cut off and discard thin lengthwise slice from each side of eggplant; cut remaining eggplant lengthwise into about six slices, each about 1/2-inch-thick. Brush both sides of slices with some of oil mixture, scooping up solids and using it all.
• Grill until browned on both sides and very tender all the way to center, 5 to 8 minutes per side.
• Sprinkle half of eggplant slices with some of cheese, then tomato; top each with another eggplant slice, pressing it into place.
• Transfer to serving dish with metal spatula; cut each slice in half crosswise. Serve warm.

MELTED TOMATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Choose a broiler-safe pan big enough to hold your sliced tomatoes in a single layer. Line with non-stick foil. Slice tomatoes 1/4" thick, and arrange in pan. Drizzle with oil (not more than 1/4 tsp per slice) Drizzle with balsamic vinegar (about a tablespoon for the pan) Bake about 30 minutes or until tomatoes are soft and melted. You may interrupt the cooking at this point & refrigerate the entire pan, or just continue. Heat broiler. Sprinkle tomatoes with grated Parmesan cheese, and broil to melt. Remove carefully to plates or platter; serve as is or on good toasted bread.

RICOTTA RAVIOLINI WITH MELTED TOMATOES

Steps:

• Make the pasta: Place dough on a lightly floured work surface. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Set the rollers of a hand-crank or electric pasta machine at their widest opening. Working with one piece at a time (and keeping the remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap), lightly flour dough and run it through the pasta machine. Fold dough in half and run through machine again.
• Change rollers of pasta machine to next decreasing setting and roll out dough once without folding. Keep rolling sheet through machine on decreasing settings until you have rolled it through the last (thinnest) setting. Transfer pasta to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Repeat process with remaining pieces of dough.
• In a medium bowl, mix together ricotta, egg yolks, and Parmigiano cheese; season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip; set aside.
• Working with one sheet of pasta at a time, lay pasta sheet out lengthwise on a lightly floured work surface. Pipe out filling in center of both top and bottom halves of pasta sheet at 1-inch intervals. Brush around filling with beaten egg. Carefully fold bottom edge of sheet over bottom half of filling toward the middle; gently press around filling to seal and remove any air. Repeat process with top half of pasta sheet. Using a pastry cutter, cut raviolini into 1-inch squares around filling and transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet; do not stack, as raviolini will stick. Repeat process with remaining sheets of pasta and filling.
• Transfer pasta to freezer and freeze until solid; use immediately or transfer to an airtight container and keep frozen up to 2 weeks.
• Make the melted tomatoes: Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and crushed red pepper flakes; cooking, stirring, until garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and oregano; season with salt and pepper. Cook until most of the juice from the tomatoes has been released and reduced; about 10 minutes. Add tomato sauce and bring to a boil; reduce heat and stir in basil. Keep warm until ready to serve.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Generously salt water and return to a boil. Add frozen raviolini and cook until tender, about 1 minute. Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid, and add raviolini to skillet with butter. Add reserved cooking liquid and olive oil. Increase heat to medium high and gently toss to combine. Remove from heat and add Parmigiano; toss to combine. Serve immediately topped with melted tomatoes; garnish with more cheese, if desired.

HERB-ROASTED CHICKEN WITH MELTED TOMATOES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Pulse the onion, parsley, cilantro, tarragon, 2 tablespoons dill, the walnuts and garlic in a food processor. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil, the vinegar, 2 teaspoons salt, and pepper to taste; pulse until smooth.
• Stir half of the herb paste with the yogurt in a small bowl; cover and refrigerate.
• Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Loosen the skin with your fingers; rub some of the remaining herb paste under the skin and the rest on the outside of the bird. Truss the chicken. Place in a roasting pan; roast until the skin turns golden, about 30 minutes.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Toss the tomatoes with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a bowl; season with salt and pepper. Baste the chicken with the drippings and add the tomatoes, cut-side down, to the pan. Continue roasting until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh registers 155 degrees, about 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper; let the chicken rest 10 minutes before carving.
• Arrange the chicken and tomatoes on a platter; sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons dill. Serve with the yogurt sauce.
• Photograph by Tina Rupp