Slow Roasted Tomato Bruschetta

Roasted tomatoes on properly toasted bread - about as good as a summer lunch gets, and barely any effort for it.

Slow-roasting does something lovely to tomatoes. Half an hour in the oven and they collapse into little pockets of sweetness, the flavour concentrated and the juices turning jammy in the tray. Cut side up, a scatter of pine nuts and a drizzle of good olive oil, and you're most of the way there.

Roasted garlic paste is what gives this its backbone - a rounder, sweeter garlic note than you'd get from raw cloves, and none of the faff of peeling and crushing. A generous spread of basil pesto on the toast keeps everything bright and green against the sweet roasted fruit.

The bread's worth thinking about too - a good Smalltown sourdough from next door. Everything else you need is available from The Pear.

Serves

4 as a starter (around 16 pieces)

Ingredients

• 500g tomatoes (halved)
• 2 tsp Belazu roasted garlic paste
• 25g basil (shredded)
• 25g pine nuts
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• Smalltown bread (cut into slices)
• 50g Belazu basil pesto

Method

1. Heat the oven: Set it to 160°C fan / 180°C conventional (gas mark 4).
2. Roast the tomatoes: Place the halved tomatoes cut side up in a baking tray. Loosen the roasted garlic paste with a little of the oil, then spoon it over the tomatoes. Scatter over half the basil and the pine nuts, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil, season, and roast for 25 - 30 minutes until soft and slightly shrivelled.
3. Toast the bread: Slice the Smalltown bread and lay it on another tray. Brush with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, season, and bake on a lower shelf for the last 20 minutes of the tomatoes' roasting time, until crisp and golden.
4. Assemble: Spread each slice of toast with the basil pesto, then pile on the roasted tomatoes. Spoon over the juices from the roasting tray - that's where a lot of the flavour is.
5. Finish: Scatter over the remaining basil and serve while the toast is still warm.

Tips

• Let the garlic paste do the work: Roasted garlic paste gives a mellow, sweet garlic flavour without the sharp bite of raw cloves - and no peeling or chopping. The Belazu one is on our shelves.
• No fresh basil? A teaspoon or so of Italian seasoning stirred through the tomatoes stands in well. Fresh basil to finish is worth it if you can get it, but it's not the end of the world without.
• Sourdough is the upgrade: A good Smalltown loaf crisps up beautifully, and sourdough is especially good - the open crumb holds the juices without going soft. Cut the slices on the thicker side.
• Don't lose the juices: The oil, garlic and tomato that pools in the tray is the best part of the dish. Spoon every last bit of it over the toast.

Shop the ingredients

Everything you need is on the shelves at The Pear in Clare - the tomatoes, pine nuts, Belazu roasted garlic paste and pesto, plus a fresh Smalltown loaf to toast is just next door. Pop in and we'll point you to it all!