C – I love seeing both green tomatoes and red ripe tomatoes on the bush.
Some times it can be a waiting game to get them all red so I started thinking about how use both the green and the red ones in a dish.
I am a bit tired of making fried green tomatoes. Of course, Jim could probably eat a few more BLFGT sandwiches.
I wanted something a bit healthier.
The good thing about green tomatoes are they have more of a solid structure. That means you can do things you can’t do with ripe tomatoes. Deep frying is one of them and slicing them and grilling them is another.
In this recipe, I used ripe tomatoes to make a red sauce and grilled the green tomatoes. Since Burratta seems to be a food trend this year, I thought I would try it out too.
For added texture, I added crisp red onions and Gypsy peppers. Along with some fresh basil.
The result was amazing. It’s like a warm Caprese salad. The grilled green tomatoes are similar to grilled eggplant texture. I loved the combination of the red sauce with the warm grilled green tomatoes.
| Green Tomato Week: Grilled Green Tomatoes with Burrata and Spicy Tomato Sauce |
- 5 unripe green tomatoes, sliced ½ inch thick
- 1 Tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 5 overripe tomatoes, cored and cubed
- ½ Serrano chili, slice
- 10 fresh basil leave, chopped + more whole basil leaves for garnish
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs, just the leaves
- 2 fresh oregano sprigs, just the leaves
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 oz Burratta cheese
- ½ red onion, sliced thinly
- 1 Gypsy pepper, sliced thinly
- 10 ripe cherry tomatoes, cut in half for garnish
- Sprinkle green tomatoes with brown sugar and salt on both sides and set aside.
- Place overripe tomatoes, Serrano chili, basil, thyme, oregano, onion, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper into a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 10 minutes or until vegetables have broken down.
- Blend with a immersion blender or regular blender until smooth. Adjust for seasoning and set aside.
- Heat a grill on high. Oil the grill. Once grill is hot. Drain green tomatoes with paper towels. Place green tomatoes on grill. Grill until tomatoes have char marks on them. About 3 minutes on each side. Remove from grill.
- Place a few tablespoons of the red tomato sauce on the bottom of serving plates.
- Place grilled green tomatoes around the plate on top of the sauce.
- Place a few pieces of Burratta around the plate as well.
- Place red onions, Gypsy peppers, cherry tomatoes, and whole basil leaves around the plate.
- Sprinkle fresh black pepper.
- Serve.
- Enjoy!
It was also surprisingly filling without feeling really heavy.
It’s a great dish for using green tomatoes … when you really don’t want any more fried green tomatoes.