Roast tomatoes with raisins and feta

Anne sent me this recipe recently and I loved the sound of the ingredients so while Lorna and I are both here in England visiting Mum I decided it was the perfect opportunity to give it a try. I really love roasted tomatoes, I’ve tried several warm salad dishes that have tomatoes as an ingredient (i’m sure I’ll be featuring more here) but this one is really a keeper. Anne found the recipe in the February 2010 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller, a site which is worth a visit if you’re looking to try something new for dinner.

I have to admit to skipping the step in which they say to pour off the juices and reduce them until syrupy (after step 3). I’m sure that would be equally good and I might try it next time if I’m feeling less lazy, but it was absolutely delicious even with out that step.

Roast tomatoes with raisins and feta
With these quantities you have a side dish for 4 or dinner for 2.

1/2 cup flaked almonds – these need to be lightly toasted on a baking sheet for about 4 to 5 minutes, keep an eye on them so they don’t burn. Or if you can find them you can cheat and buy the pre-toasted ones.
3 lots of vine ripened tomatoes – the ones I used where about ping-pong ball sized)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3/4 cup golden raisins
10 garlic cloves, peeled and squashed
zest of one lemon, zest removed with a peeler so you get bigger pieces
2 long red chillies, seeds removed, thinly sliced
8 fresh marjoram sprigs
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds, lightly crushed with a pestle & mortar
100 grams/4oz of feta cheese, roughly crumbled

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/450F and toast the almonds if you need to.
2. Place the tomatoes into a roasting dish in which they fit snugly in a single layer, scatter with the raisins, garlic, lemon zest, chillies, marjoram, bay leaves and fennel seeds. Drizzle on the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast until the tomatoes blister and release their juices, about 25-30 minutes.
3. Remove them from the oven (this is where I diverge from the original recipe) with tongs, remove the tomatoes to a serving dish, remove the bay leaves, scatter on the feta and the almonds and then pour over the juices and other ingredients from the roasting dish and serve.

We had it with blackened tilapia and baby roast potatoes, which went really well. I could easily see myself serving on its own with good crusty bread as a light mid-week dinner. – Melani