In Season: Roast Tomatoes With Lemon Thyme
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If your home-cooked meals aren't complete without a squeeze of citrus or dash of zest, there's a new cookbook by British recipe developer and food writer Catherine Phipps. Bring a little zeal to every meal of the day with Citrus. These roast tomatoes with lemon thyme are a succulent, sweet and tangy way to celebrate summer produce.
I can't remember what led me to this idea, but I'm so glad I tried it. I had always been a bit either/or with tomatoes and lemons but this is a revelation – the lemon sweetens and caramelizes in a very different way from the tomatoes and they complement one another perfectly. These are wonderful with grilled fish or steak, or just folded through some pasta.
- 14 ounces small to medium vine tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large lemon
- basil
- capers
- thyme sprigs
- Take 14 ounces of small to medium (i.e. slightly larger than cherry) vine tomatoes. Separate them from the vine but leave the core leaves.
- Heat a heavy-based frying pan to as hot as you can get it. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the tomatoes. Cook, shaking regularly, until the tomatoes are threatening – but not quite ready – to burst out of their skins. This won’t take long.
- Cut the peel off a large lemon and dice the flesh, taking out any pips as you go. Add this into the pan – it should sizzle and start caramelizing almost immediately. Shake a couple of times and remove. Serve sprinkled with salt and lemon thyme, and perhaps some shredded basil if you like. Capers are also a good addition here; you can add them just before the lemon so they can sizzle for a moment on their own first.