Prep time 10 min Cook time 15 min
Cold Greek yoghurt topped with piping hot charbroiled cherry tomatoes makes this Ottolenghi appetizer quite unique.
I have a love hate relationship with Ottolenghi recipes.
Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi raised to new heights traditional recipes of the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities of Jerusalem, their home city. Their blend of flavours and textures is quite unique but they often throw in an ingredient which for a particular recipe is critical but then ends up in your pantry with seldom used items.
I still have a jar-full of star anise seeds, enough fennel seeds to last me a year, a forgotten box of Urfan pepper and half a bag of Camargue red rice tucked way in the back of my pantry.
Then there is the long list of ingredients that in many cases exceeds the length of the cooking instructions. I am all for complex flavors but I am convinced that after the fifth herb or spice, our palates would find it difficult to discern a difference.
Finally, finding some of the ingredients can be a challenge. For example, where on earth can one find black garlic? I eventually found some on line with a minimum order of one pound but what would one do with a pound of black garlic?
Luckily, Ottolenghi’s cook book titled Simple, addresses some of these issues. However, what he calls simple is relative but there are a few hidden gems for quick and simple dishes. A good friend of mine recently sent me one of the recipes that she prepared which consists of cherry tomatoes with yoghurt. It can be used as a starter, a light snack or as part of a mezze style meal with other small dishes.
Simple enough, but apart from the aromatic herbal flavours, the novelty of this dish is in how it is prepared and served. Cold Greek yoghurt topped with piping hot charbroiled cherry tomatoes. As you pierce the hot smokey tomatoes they ooze into the cold creamy yoghurt to melt it and you spread that mixture on warm pitta bread or slices of toasted baguette.
Simply brilliant.
Charred tomatoes with cold yoghurt
by
Derek Farwagi
Ingredients
- 8oz (about a large handful) cherry tomatoes
- 2 tbsp olive oil plus a little extra for drizzling
- ½ tsp whole cumin seeds
- ½ tsp light brown sugar
- 2 garlic cloved crushed
- 3 sprigs fresh oregano 2 sprigs left whole, the remaining one picked as garnish when you serve.
- 6 sprigs thyme 4 sprigs left whole, the rest picked picked as garnish when you serve.
- 1 lemon zest of one half shaved off in 3 wide strips, the other half grated.
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- ½ cup fridge-cold Greek yoghurt
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 200oC (400oF). The recipe can also be cooked in a small toaster oven.
- Put the tomatoes in a medium sized bowl. Add the oil, cumin, sugar, garlic, thyme sprigs, oregano sprigs, lemon strips, a pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper. Toss together with your hands.
- Put the tomatoes on a foil sheet with sides turned up that’s just large enough to accommodate them all snugly. Place in a baking tray, roast for 10 minutes until the tomatoes are beginning to blister and the liquid is bubbling, then turn the oven to the grill setting and grill for 5 to 7 minutes, until the tomatoes start to blacken on top.
- While the tomatoes are roasting, mix the yoghurt with the grated lemon zest and 1/4 tsp salt, then return to the fridge.
- Once the tomatoes are ready, spread out the cold yoghurt on a large plate or shallow, wide bowl. Spoon the hot tomatoes on top, as well as the pan juices, lemon peel, garlic and herbs, and garnish with some of the remaining oregano and thyme as well as some chilli flakes. Drizzle with olive oil and serve at once with some warm flatbreads or crusty baguette slices.
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