Roasted Caprese Tomatoes with Basil

'The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm'....what a brilliant quote by Aldous Huxley, and how true and wise to never lose that enthusiasm!!! The toys of our childhood have been discarded but now we must find new ones to feel joy and that enthusiasm of our childhood. Cooking for me is not just making food to fill our stomachs, it's about being creative and having fun and my new toys are my pots and pans and all the ingredients available to me. And nothing puts a huge smile on my face as do my herbs that I have growing in my garden and that feeling when I just step outside to take a cutting to include in my cooking!!  I'm particularly proud of my Basil plant which is treated like  my doll, being groomed and taken care of and admired and today I have a really simple but tasty recipe that I hope you will enjoy that includes this wonderful herb. Enjoy!!

Ingredients
4 large, ripe tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
salt & pepper to taste
4 thin slices Mozzarella
4 basil leaves
for the dressing
small handful fresh basil
1 garlic clove
juice of ½ lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste
to serve
wild rocket

Instructions
    * Pre-heat the oven to 180°c.
    * Halve the tomatoes and place on a non-stick baking sheet, cut side up.
    * Drizzle over the olive oil and Balsamic and season with the sugar (if using), salt and pepper.
    * Roast for 20-25 minutes until the skins are blistered then top the 4 bottom halves with the mozzarella and roast for another 5 minutes.
    * Remove from the oven and place a basil leaf on each bottom half then close with the top half.
    * To make the dressing, blitz all the ingredients in a small food processor until the basil is finely chopped.
    * Serve the tomatoes on a bed of wild rocket, drizzled with the dressing.

Androulla xx