Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Roasted Tomato Bread

Winter tomatoes are so tasteless and gummy. Every once and a while I will buy one, hoping for the taste of a ripe summer tomato, almost always ending in disappointment. Instead of waiting five more months for a real tomato, roasted tomatoes are a good compromise. Roasting concentrates the flavor and is the closest I have come to the taste of summer tomato in the depths of winter.

This is a relatively quick yeast bread. I would recommend making for a Sunday brunch.


Roasted Tomato Bread
Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

Ingredients:
  • 4 pints cherry tomatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
  • 3/4 cups plus 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the pan
  • 4 teaspoons coarse salt, plus more for sprinkling
  • 3 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 1/2 pounds (about 5 1/4 cups) all purpose flour
  • 10 ounces (about 1 3/4 cups) semolina flour
  • 1 1/2 ounces fresh yeast

How To:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Divide the tomatoes evenly between two rimmed baking sheets. Drizzle with 1/4 cup of olive oil, and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of salt. Bake until tomatoes begin to shrivel and the juice on the pan has reduced, about 45 minutes; remove from oven. Lightly brush a 17 by 12 inch rimmed baking pan with oil and set aside. Raise oven temperature to 425 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan over low heat, bring milk to a simmer. In a bowl of an electric mixer, combine 2 teaspoons of salt, flours, 3 tablespoons olive oil and yeast. Mix on low speed, gradually pouring in the hot milk until combined. Once combined mix on medium speed for one minute. The dough will be very sticky.

Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Using lightly oiled hands, spread dough evenly, making sure it fills the pan. Cover tightly with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Using fingers, dimple the dough unevenly, leaving 2 inched between dimples. Arrange half of the tomatoes on the dough. Drizzle with 1/4 cup of olive oil, sprinkle with salt.

Bake rotating sheet halfway through until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil, cool on wire rack. Add remaining tomatoes and sprinkle with salt. Slice with serrated knife and serve.  Bread can be kept for 2 to 3 days tightly wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature.

My recipe notes:
  • I used halved grape tomatoes
  • You can roast the tomatoes a day ahead 
  • The recipe makes a lot of really sticky dough
  • I was a little concerned with the large amount of yeast -- but it's works out really well
  • Garnish with basil
  • Leftovers can be frozen