Puff pastry tarts with cheese and slow roasted tomatoes - Tarte cu branza si rosii coapte

I am cleaning up my photo folders and before I come back with a soup or something else, it is time for these small bites to see the light. I chose them because they pair well with the sunny days and high 70's we had this past 10 days. (i started writing these lines yesterday, but as we speak it started raining and that's how it will be for the rest of the weekend)
I told you already about Chez Pim’s blog being the "virus", but I can be more precise than that. My first reading was her post about oven roasted tomatoes, I craved for them, so I made them that very night. It was my entry to the monthly contest on the Romanian culinary forum reteteculinaro.ro when the theme was canned goods. And then I made it again and again for the past 2 summers because I like them a lot. The only problem - even though you can find tomatoes all year round, they don’t seem ripe, they are not bursting with flavor and although roasting helps, it cannot do wonders.
But last fall I stumbled upon the fix for my roasted tomatoes problem, when reading another recipe which said "you can use canned tomatoes". Hello!!!! How dumb of me, but it never crossed my mind until then.
I owe this food induced happiness to Molly Wizenberg’s article "My Usual, Please" from September 2008 issue of Bon Appetit which had the recipe for Pomodori al Forno from Café Lago in Seattle.
I made the tarts using store bought puff pastry (cut in 4"x4" squares, pricked with the fork all over) because I had some left over in the fridge. But the tomatoes are just perfect on grilled bread with some cheese and olives.
I topped the puff pastry with a ricotta - feta cheese mixture (no goat cheese laying around in my fridge at the time) and with the tomatoes roasted according to the recipe from Bon Appetit (a couple of changes only - I used 2/3 cup of oil instead of a full cup as the pastry has enough fat, 1 teaspoon of sugar and one of salt, and no parsley at the end), baked them, then drizzled over some basil & chive oil (homemade, because I got myself a pretty fine sieve that day, so I had to use it).
They look springy or summery, don’t they?
And here is another recipe for roasted tomatoes which is pretty similar, but comes from Gourmet.

Pomodori al Forno

(recipe from Bon Appetit - September 2008, courtesy to Cafe Lago, Seattle)

Ingredients
1 cups (or more) olive oil, divided
2 pounds plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeded
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh Italian parsley
Aged goat cheese (such as Bûcheron)
1 baguette, thinly sliced crosswise, toasted

Preheat oven to 250°F. Pour 1/2 cup oil into 13x9x2-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Arrange tomatoes in dish, cut side up. Drizzle with remaining 1/2 cup oil. Sprinkle with oregano, sugar, and salt. Bake 1 hour. Using tongs, turn tomatoes over. Bake 1 hour longer. Turn tomatoes over again. Bake until deep red and very tender, transferring tomatoes to plate when soft (time will vary, depending on ripeness of tomatoes), about 15 to 45 minutes longer.
Layer tomatoes in medium bowl, sprinkling garlic and parsley over each layer; reserve oil in baking dish. Drizzle tomatoes with reserved oil, adding more if necessary to cover. Let stand at room temperature 2 hours. DO AHEAD Cover; chill up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Serve with aged goat cheese and toasted baguette slices.

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Tarte cu branza si rosii la cuptor

Incerc sa trec prin pozele nepostate inca, si pana sa revin cu o supa sau alta mancare mai serioasa, a venit vremea gustarilor astora sa vada lumina. Le-am ales de fapt pentru ca se potriveau foarte bine zilelor insorite cu peste 20 C pe care le-am avut in ultimele 10 zile. (am scris randurile astea ieri, dar azi e innorat si ploua, si la fel o sa fie tot weekendul)
V-am spus mai inainte cum m-am "virusat" de la blogul lui Pim, dar pot spune ca prima mea lectura a fost despre rosiile uscate in cuptor, la care am poftit instantaneu, asa ca le-am facut in aceeasi seara. Au fost intrarea mea la concursul lunar de pe retete culinare cand tema concursului a fost conserve de toamna. Si apoi le-am refacut in ultimele doua veri pentru ca ne-au placut mult. Singura problema - desi gasesti rosii tot timpul anului, nu sunt cu adevarat coapte si gustoase, si desi uscandu-le in cuptor sunt mult mai bune, nici macar metoda asta nu poate face minuni cu ele.Dar toamna trecuta am gasit din fericire solutia citind o reteta care spunea ca poti folosi rosii din conserva, din cele puse intregi in suc de rosii. Ca sa vezi!!! Ce prostie sa nu imi treaca asa ceva prin cap pana atunci......
Ideea minunata apare in articolul scris de Molly Wizenberg "My Usual, Please" din revista Bon Appetit - Septembrie 2008, care avea reteta pentru Rosii la Cuptor (apartinand Cafenelei Lago din Seattle). Am facut tartele cu aluat cumparat (l-am taiat in patrate de 10x10 cm si le-am intepat cu furculita peste tot), pentru ca imi ramasese de la niste pateuri. Dar nu sunt necesare tartele pentru rosiile astea minunate, sunt absolut perfecte pe paine prajita sau la gratar, cu niste branza si masline.
Am pus pe fiecare tarta un amestec de branza telemea - ricotta (urda) (reteta originala cere branza de capra, dar nu aveam deloc in casa in ziua cu pricina) si deasupra rosiile pregatite dupa reteta de mai jos ( cateva schimbari, am folosit numai 2/3 din uleiul recomandat pentru ca aluatul e destul de gras si el, am pus o lingurita fiecare sare si zahar, si nu am pus patrunjel proaspat la sfarsit); am copt tartele si apoi le-am stropit cu niste ulei "verde" cu busuioc si frunze de ceapa verde (pentru ca tocmai imi luasem o sita deasa si trebuia sa o folosesc la ceva).
Miros a primavara/ vara, nu-i asa?
Iar aici e o alta reteta asemanatoare, gasita pe Gourmet.

Rosii la cuptor

(reteta din revista Bon Appetit - Septembrie 2008, oferita de Cafe Lago, Seattle)

225 ml ulei de masline
900 g rosii, taiate pe jumatate, fara seminte (sau rosii din bulion, conservate intregi)
1 1/2 lingurite oregano
3/4 lingurita zahar
1/2 lingurita sare
1-2 catei de usturoi pisati
2 lingurite patrunjel proaspat tocat
branza de capra
o bagheta taiata in felii subtiri pe diagonala

Se incinge cuptorul la 250 F ( 120C). Se toarna jumatate din ulei intr-un vas termorezistent. Se aseaza rosiile in vas cu partea taiata in sus. Se toarna peste restul de ulei. Se condimenteaza cu oregano, zahar si sare. Se coc o ora. Se intorc rosiile cu partea taiata in jos si se mai pun la copt inca o ora. Se intorc rosiile din nou cu fata in sus si se mai coc intre 15 si 45 minute pana cand sunt de un rosu intens si sunt foarte coapte.
Se pun rosiile pe platou, se presara deasupra usturoiul si patrunjelul si peste se toarna uleiul din vasul in care au fost coapte. Daca este nevoie de mai mult ueli, se adauga dupa plac. Se lasa la temperatura camerei timp de 2 ore. Daca nu sunt servite imediat, se acopera si se pun la frigider pana la 5 zile. Se lasa sa revina la temperatura camerei inainte de a fi servite.
Se servesc cu branza de capra si felii de bagheta prajita.