FARGO — Freshly picked tomatoes are one of life’s simple luxuries, and we have been enjoying this late-summer vegetable/fruit in a variety of dishes this month, including these Blue Cheese Blistered Tomatoes. This is an excellent dish to serve with grilled meats, bruschetta or pasta, and its explosive flavor guarantees that it is always a crowd pleaser. If you love tomatoes and blue cheese, this is the recipe for you.
This is a rustic dish made with just six ingredients, and the magic is in its preparation. Plump cherry tomatoes are tossed with extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and thin slivers of garlic and are then roasted at 400 degrees just until their skins start to burst. They should appear gently blistered, and still able to hold most of their shape with just a little bit of juice spilling out.
This step takes about 20 to 22 minutes in my oven, and I start checking the tomatoes after 17 minutes to make sure they do not overcook. Once the tomatoes are ready, I immediately pour them into a bowl on top of the crumbled blue cheese, making sure to include all the garlic and any juices on the pan. I wait two minutes and then I gently toss the mixture together until well combined.
As they rest, the hot tomatoes will release their juices and blend into the blue cheese, creating a marvelous sauce that can be spooned over a dish or sopped up with good, crusty bread. Plump and juicy small tomatoes work best for this dish, like cherry, pear and cocktail varieties, as they a.