BBQ
Grilled tomatoes & bay leaf oil
Cooked on the BBQ, these summery tomatoes deliver sharp and smoky flavour with the intense fragrance of bay.
This recipe comes from the Field kitchen fire cookery demo, where guests learn how to create flavoursome, fire-cooked dishes with fresh veg picked from the Riverford Farm and our kitchen garden. BBQs aren’t only the home of steaks and sausages; fresh veg can be just as happy above or within a pile of glowing embers. When you cook veg over fire flavours intensify, surfaces caramelise and edges get irresistibly crisp and charred.
Ingredients
- 2kg cherry tomatoes
- 50 fresh bay leaves
- 200ml veg oil
- juice of one lemon
- salt to taste
Method
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Step 1
Place a large sieve or cake rack over a medium heat on your BBQ. This creates a surface you can grill much smaller things on than a conventional BBQ grill.
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Step 2
Grill your cherry tomatoes till nicely blistered but not completely falling apart. They should be slightly blackened on the outside but still raw on the inside.
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Step 3
Then, grill your bay leaves till slightly blackened. This will happen very quickly so keep an eye on them. Once grilled, place bay leaves in a food processor with oil, salt and lemon juice and blend for a good 10 minutes. You will end up with a very intense, dark green bay leaf oil.
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Step 4
Dress the tomatoes in the oil and allow to marinade overnight at room temperature. This can be served as it is or tossed through a salad. It is also lovely on toast or served with mozzarella or any soft cheese.