snack, starter, side dish, craving….. try these easy microwave tomatoes and you’ll look for places to use them. so very easy and quick —and since you can get good cherry tomatoes year round (on the little vine, in the mesh plastic bag), you can enjoy this year round.
it reminds me of hot garlicky french escargot, somehow. maybe the garlic and the rich flavor from the pecorino romano. the panko gives it a nice little soft crunch. so savory. so easy. so delicious.
mr. alka smeared his on french bread. i ate mine hot from the micro with my fingers. (and yes, i did lick my fingers….why waste olive oil and garlic!?)
“try it; you’ll like it” —i ga-ron-tee (bless you justin wilson!)
- Yield: as many as you put on the plate….
- Difficulty: Easy
- Total: 5 or 6 minutes (not counting oil-infusing time)
- Active: 2 minutes
Ingredients (6)
- good dipping quality extra virgin olive oil
- pecorino romano cheese, finely grated
- panko bread crumbs; balsamic vinegar; cherry tomatoes
- lots of fresh garlic, put through a press, or finely minced. like 1 clove per generous tablespoon… (su-per garlicky!) mash it in the dish so it is revved up!
- kosher salt
- balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- infuse olive oil with minced garlic (i love my zyliss press); set aside 5-10 minutes. while it is infusing, i like to smash the garlic with the back of a spoon in the oil to really get smooth garlic and max flavor.
- halve cherry tomatoes and arrange cut side up on micro-safe plate.
- sprinkle with grated pecorino romano, and maybe a little kosher salt —depending on your cheese’s saltiness.
- then, sprinkle with panko bread crumbs.
- drizzle with the garlic/olive oil.
- repeat the three-step sprinkle: cheese, panko, garlic oil.
- then, add a decent-size drop of balsamic vinegar onto each tomato. how much depends really on the size of the tomato.
- nuke at 50% power in three one-minute increments (to check on progress).
