Pesto Roasted Tomatoes & Roasted Caprese Salad

As I had already mentioned at several places, tomato is one of favourites. I love it in different ways and recently tried roasting it again in two ways, first marinating it in pesto and second by just using balsamic vinegar as seen in Kevin' s post. The intention was to make caprese salad.

Insalata Caprese or salad in style of Capri is a simple salad from Campania,Italy. It is an assembly of sliced buffalo mozzarella,tomato and fresh basil,seasoned with salt,pepper & olive oil.I liked Kevin's version wherein he had roasted the tomatoes and assembled the salad and even used it as a sandwich filling.

Since I decided on roasting, I thought why not go for pesto tomatoes. Inspirations for pesto tomatoes are -

Roasted Tomatoes with Pesto by Wolfgang Puck
Tandoori Pesto Potatoes by SunshineMom
Quick Roasted Tomatoes by Kalyn.

So here's my roasted tomatoes in two styles.

Ingredients:

Pesto Roasted Tomatoes:
Tomato:atleast 2-4 halved

Pesto:
Basil : 1/2 cup
Garlic: 1  small clove
Olive oil: 3-4 tbsp
Toasted Pine nuts: 1 tbsp
Parmesan Cheese: 1 tbsp +/-
Salt, Pepper: as per taste

Caprese Salad:
Tomatoes:2-4 halved

Balsamic Vinegar:2 tsp
Garlic: 1small clove crushed/chopped
Salt,Pepper: as per taste
Olive Oil: 2-3 tsp

Fresh Basil: handful
Fresh Mozarella: sliced thin

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 450F or the highest in your oven.

Prepare the pesto by grinding all the ingredients together.Halve the tomatoes and toss them in the pesto. Let them sit for atleast 10-15 minutes. Place them in a lined/grased and rimmed baking sheet.

In a bowl,add crushed garlic,salt,pepper,balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Mix well.Add some halved tomatoes in this. Then place thm in a lined/greased baking sheet.Pour the dressing if any on top of the tomatoes

Roast for atleast 10 -15 minutes or more if depending on your oven.Earlier it took me about 25 minutes to get the caramelized mark on the top of the tomato.

You can serve the pesto tomatoes with cheese or as such as snack

Caprese Salad: Take the balsamic roasted tomatoes,assemble the sald along with sliced mozarella and fresh basil.This can be served as a starter.

I love the roasted tomatoes both versions. You can also roast simply by adding salt and pepper or your choice of seasoning.You can use the roasted tomatoes as a snack,side or to make soups,pasta sauces etc.You can roast the tomatoes ahead of your dish and freeze them as well.