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Highlight tomatoes in this wonderful and easy brown butter roasted tomatoes appetizer. Served warm on a bed of tzatziki and fried capers, this starter will be the star of your meal.
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Watch how to make this
What makes this dish special
Ask me what my favorite season is, and I'll tell you it's fall. But ask me what my favorite season is for produce, and I'll tell you it's summer. I hate the 100-degree weather, but I will gladly suffer through the heat if I can enjoy all of summer's harvest. When I'm not snacking on all the berries, you can find me eating cherry tomatoes like no other. As amazing as they are fresh, I wanted to mix them up a little and decided to make brown butter roasted tomatoes, similar to these roasted tomatoes from my roasted tomato and burrata toast. Pile the tomatoes on a bed of tzatziki and garnish them with fried capers for one flavorful dish.
The inspiration for this dish is all thanks to the amazing Yotam Ottolenghi. I don't know why it took me so long to discover his recipes, but now that I have, I can't get enough of them. As a professional chef who's constantly seeking inspiration, I find his flavors to be phenomenal. Recently, I've been working my way through his Simple cookbook and have fallen in love with his charred tomatoes with cold yogurt recipe. In fact, I loved it so much that I decided to create my version with a few slight changes.
Serve this dish with spiced roasted chicken, roasted tri-tip with chimichurri, or with BBQ-spiced salmon for a complete meal!
Recipe
Brown Butter Roasted Tomatoes
Ingredients
Brown butter roasted tomatoes
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes
- 4 garlic cloves sliced
- 2 thyme sprigs
- 1 rosemary sprig
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon red chili flakes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Tzatziki
- 1 cup labneh
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill chopped
- 2 garlic cloves grated
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon cumin ground
- salt and pepper
Remaining ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon capers drained and patted dry with paper towels
- ¼ cup fresh basil
- freshly cracked black pepper
- Maldon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Melt ¼ cup butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter until it starts to smell nutty and browns, about 5-7 minutes.
- Place the tomatoes in a baking dish along with the garlic, thyme, rosemary, sugar, red chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Pour the browned butter into the mix, stirring to coat. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and roast for 15 minutes. Remove the cover and continue to roast for another 5-7 minutes or until slightly charred.
- Meanwhile, make the tzatziki. Mix together the labneh with dill, garlic, lemon zest, and cumin. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Heat ¼ cup in a small saucepot over high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer (at around 375 degrees F), add the capers and fry for 2-3 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. Remove the capers with a slotted spoon and drain the excess oil on paper towels.
- Spread the tzatziki on a serving plate and top with the brown butter roasted tomatoes. Garnish the tomatoes with the fried capers, fresh basil, freshly cracked black pepper, and Maldon salt. Serve with crusty bread.
Notes
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Prepare tomatoes
In Ottolenghi's recipe, he roasts tomatoes with cumin, oregano, thyme, and olive oil in the oven until charred. I decided to roast my tomatoes in brown butter because, well, why not?
I love the nutty flavor of brown butter and thought it would be wonderful with the tomatoes.
Melt ¼ cup butter in a pan over medium heat until it starts to smell nutty and turns a beautiful deep brown.
Now toss those tomatoes in the brown butter and add garlic, sugar, red chili flakes, thyme, and rosemary.
Cover the pan to allow the tomatoes to soften, then remove the cover and continue to roast for another 5-7 minutes or until charred.
Step 2: Make toppings
The tomatoes alone would be fantastic as a topping for salads, roasted chicken, grilled steak, or crostini. However, we're going to incorporate yogurt just like how Ottolenghi did.
The hot tomatoes turn the yogurt creamy and pair so wonderfully together.
I wanted to give my dish a Mediterranean spin, so I decided to pair the tomatoes with tzatziki instead of plain yogurt.
Combine the labneh with fresh dill, cumin, grated garlic, and lemon zest, and season the tzatziki with salt and pepper.
We're also going to take it one step further and garnish the dish with fried capers. Drain the capers and pat them dry with paper towels. Then, heat ¼ cup of oil and fry the capers until they darken in color.
Step 3: Putting it all together
Spread the tzatziki on a plate and spoon the tomatoes, along with the juices, right on top. Garnish the brown butter roasted tomatoes with the fried capers, fresh basil, freshly cracked pepper, and sea salt.
Serve the tomatoes with crusty bread, making sure to spoon all that goodness on the bread. Ottolenghi, you are a true genius, and although my version is slightly different, I love both recipes equally.
For another fantastic recipe featuring tomatoes, check out my salmon with caramelized tomato sauce, heirloom tomato galette, and crispy fried feta with blistered tomato relish!
Make-ahead and storage
- Make-ahead: You can cook the tomatoes the day before and reheat them right before serving. The fried capers and tzatziki can also be prepared the day before.
- Store: Keep leftovers in airtight containers and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If possible, store the tomatoes and tzatziki separately.
More summer appetizer recipes
Looking for more summer appetizer ideas? Try these:
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