Tomato Confit with Whipped Feta Cream

Serves: 4

Preparation: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Category: Vegetarian

Plan: Prepare on the day of serving, 2-3 hours in advance

Difficulty:  Easy

Course: Starter or Light Lunch

Cuisine: Aromatic vegetarian dish

This is a Guest Recipe from Comfort & Joy:  Irrisistible Pleasures from a Vegetarian Kitchen by Ravinder Bhogal and published in The Independent on 8th June 2023.

This is a delightful aromatic dish with the deep sweet flavours of slow roasted, caramelised tomatoes coupled with a sharp tangy cream made from liquidised feta cheese and yogurt  and lemon juice.   Each mouthful simply bursting with gorgeous flavours.

We served this with hot crusty rolls as a starter when entertaining, but you could add other components and serves this as a light luncheon with either baguettes or sourdough to help mop up the fragrant juices from this dish.

This was probably one of our most favourite dishes we enjoyed last Summer as we used our own tomatoes,

ripened to perfection in the greenhouse and still hot to pick from the amazing sunshine,

you simply cannot replicate these flavours unless you are cooking

somewhere in the Mediterranean!

Utensils



• Large roasting tray
• Chopping board
• Sharp knife
• Food processor
• Shallow serving dish

Ingredients

• 500g cherry tomatoes, red, yellow and purple (if available)
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled and slightly crushed
• 3 thin strips of lemon peel from an unwaxed lemon
• One teaspoon of golden caster sugar
• 1 heaped teaspoon coriander seeds
• One quarter teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)
• 3-4 sprigs of fresh oregano (or use dried if fresh oregano is unavailable)
• A generous slug of olive oil
• Fresh sea Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

For the Cream

• 200g feta cheese, cut into small cubes
• Juice of half a lemon
• 200g thick natural Greek yogurt

To Garnish

• Fresh chopped chives
• Fresh picked oregano leaves

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas Mark 4.
   
   
2. Wash the tomatoes and tip these into a small roasting pan together with the garlic cloves and lemon peel.
   
   
3. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the golden caster sugar.
   
   
4. Add the coriander seeds, chilli flakes (if using) and the oregano.
   
   
5. Drizzle with olive oil and put into the oven.
   
   
6. After 30 minutes, remove from the oven and with a large spoon make sure the tomatoes are well coated with the oil and aromatic juices and return to the oven for the final 5 or so minutes of cooking time.   Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
   
   
7. Whilst the tomatoes are cooking, add the lemon juice, feta cubes and yogurt to a food processor and blitz until you have a smooth cream.   Store in the fridge until ready to use.
   
   
8. With the use of a spatula, spoon the cream into the base of a small shallow serving dish and when the tomatoes are cooked and cooled, spoon these onto the top of the cream and finally pour all the oil and juices on to the top of the tomatoes.
   
   
9. Finally, garnish with fresh chopped chives and oregano leaves and serve with hot crusty bread, baguettes, rolls, sourdough etc.