Fresh, ripe Rosa tomatoes, gently braised in olive oil with garlic, chilli, fresh herbs, a dash of vinegar and a pinch of brown sugar. Perfect on a burger, crostini or bruschetta, or mixed with cooked penne and Parmesan. I use unpeeled small tomatoes such as Rosa or cherry, but you can peel and chop any ripe tomato for this.
Ingredients
200 – 400g small tomatoes sliced in half.
1 – 2 cloves of garlic chopped.
1 red chilli, chopped with or without the seeds.
Fresh herbs, such as rosemary, thyme or sage, . and/or basil stirred in when done.
Olive oil.
Vinegar: red wine, Balsamic or common brown vinegar your granny used to use.
A pinch of brown sugar (optional).
Method
Heat the olive oil in a small pan.
Add the tomatoes cut side down, scatter over the garlic, chilli and herbs, salt and pepper.
Once they start browning on the bottom, add the vinegar and sugar.
Shake to turn most of the tomatoes over. You can go gentle to get an even dark red relish, or you can let some caramelize to get more robust texture and taste layers. I usually add a few fresh tomatoes near the end to get more texture and taste variation.
Use warm, or keep in the fridge and warm later. I would not freeze this – it’s way easy and quick to make.