Charred Tomatoes, One of My Favorite Summer Flavors

This weekend, while preparing a salad I was rummaging through my canned and dried tomatoes from last summer and ran across some of my favorites, charred tomatoes!  Charring tomatoes (burning the skins to add depth to the flavor) became one of my preferred methods of preparing the fruit.  The preparation allowed for a beautiful presentation with some cheese and artisan bread and made for a tasty snack.


Charred Tomatoes and Cheese on Bread:


Preheat a cast iron skillet on med-high heat. You’ll want the surface to be hot: judge by being able to hold your hand above the surface of the skillet for no more than 2 seconds.

Slice a small handful of cherry tomatoes in half, or cut 1/4 inch slices off of a large tomato. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the cut sides.

Assemble 1 oz. of cheese (any type will work, but I preferred a fresh mozzarella in the summer.  Pecorino or Asiago would be nice as well, though it wouldn't allow for the gooey factor) in small thumb sized chunks and 2 small slices of bread to be close to your hot skillet.

Place the cut tomatoes, cut side down on the hot skillet.

After 1 minute, place the cheese chunks down on the skillet in the space remaining around the tomato slices. Place the pieces of bread along side to toast lightly.

Leave the cheese and tomatoes on the hot skillet for 2-3 minutes at which time they will be burnt on the cooking surface.

Place the toasted bread slices on a plate, and with a nice sharp edged metal spatula, scrape/lift the charred tomato slices and cheese on to the bread, burnt side up (so it won’t get all steamy soggy).


Allow to cool slightly and dust with another slight sprinkle of salt and enjoy.