| Ingredients: | | | | Using your hands, peel the tomatoes, cut them in half |
| ½ cup tomato confit finely chopped | | | | and cut out the cores. Remove the seeds and cut |
| 1½ teaspoons finely chopped shallots | | | | out any remaining ribs, rough spots, or membranes to |
| 1 teaspoon fresh chives, finely chopped | | | | leave a smooth tomato. |
| 3 basil leaves, finely chopped | | | | Note: If you are working with large tomatoes you |
| Basil oil for garnish | | | | may need to quarter them to remove the seeds. |
| Procedure: | | | | Preheat the oven to 210 degrees F. |
| For the tomato tartar, combine the tomato confit, | | | | To prepare the tomato confit, line two baking sheets |
| shallots, chives and basil in a small bowl. Refrigerate | | | | with aluminum foil. Drizzle the foil with some of the |
| until ready to serve. | | | | extra-virgin olive oil and lightly sprinkle with salt and |
| To serve, place a 3-inch ring mold in the center of | | | | pepper. Arrange the tomatoes on the baking sheets |
| each plate. Place about 2½ tablespoons of the | | | | and drizzle with more olive oil, season with salt and |
| tomato tartar in each ring mold and smooth with the | | | | pepper, sugar, and the sliced garlic. Top each piece of |
| back of a spoon to remove any air pockets. Garnish | | | | tomato with a small sprig of thyme. Bake for 2 hours |
| the tartar with mixed greens and drizzle with some | | | | or until the tomatoes are partially dried but still moist. |
| of the basil oil. | | | | Let cool. |
| Serve cold with small toasts. Makes 4 servings. | | | | Transfer the confit with the thyme, garlic and its oil |
| For the tomato Confit | | | | to a sealable jar. Add more extra-virgin olive oil, until |
| 30 plum tomatoes | | | | the tomatoes are completely submerged. Refrigerate |
| ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil | | | | for up to 1 week. |
| 1 clove garlic finely sliced | | | | For the basil oil |
| ½ tablespoon kosher salt | | | | ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil |
| ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper | | | | 10 basil leaves |
| ½ teaspoon sugar | | | | Combine the basil leaves and olive oil in a blender and |
| Thyme sprigs | | | | blend. |
| To peel the tomatoes, cut a shallow X in the bottom | | | | Recipe Info: |
| of each tomato. Drop the tomatoes into a large pot | | | | Course: Appetizer |
| of boiling salted water to loosen the skin. About 30 | | | | Cousine: Italian |
| to 40 seconds. As soon as the skin begins to loosen, | | | | Servings: 4 |
| remove the tomatoes to an ice-water bath to cool | | | | Prep. |
| and stop the cooking. | | | | |