Tomato-Gorgonzola Bruschetta

Me and my friend were talking about bruschetta the other day. We were wondering — is bruschetta referring to the bread? or the topping? Should this post be named bruschetta with tomato & gorgonzola instead of tomato-gorgonzola bruschetta? If one of you knows, do share!

Either way, this is fantastic finger food. I especially love the tomatoes warm and collapsed on the crispy bread. Right before serving, I crumbled gorgonzola on top and lightly tossed so it'll slightly melt the cheese. Amazing!! As for the bread, I used up the ends of a sourdough loaf I use for sandwiches. Any bread will work. I put a pat of butter on each slice and sprinkled it with rosemary (I only had dried) and put it under the broiler for a few minutes. Please try this, its quick, delicious and definitely a crowd-pleaser.

Tomato-Gorgonzola Bruschetta

1 pint grape tomatoes

2 garlic cloves, minced

olive oil

salt 'n' peppa

1 Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash tomatoes and drain. Halve each tomato lengthwise and place on an aluminum foil covered baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Toss all together.

2 Bake for about 15 minutes until tomatoes have collapsed. Right before serving, crumble gorgonzola on top and lightly toss. Arrange the crispy bread around the tomatoes and serve.

Crispy Rosemary Bread

1 Slice bread and arrange on baking sheet. Put pat of butter on each slice and sprinkle with rosemary.

2 Broil for about 5 minutes until golden brown.

Roasted Tomato, Artichoke & Goat Cheese Pasta

I love a good light pasta dish thats easy to heat up for lunch or snack on cold right out of the fridge. This is one of those dishes, which was inspired by Heidi's Red Pesto Ravioli at 101cookbooks. She used cheese ravioli for the pasta and made a pesto sauce out of sun dried tomatoes. I didn't want a sauce nor a heavy pasta, just the good stuff she used like oven roasted tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, plus I added some roasted canned artichokes. It turned out amazing and I'm sure it will taste just as good or maybe even better right out of the fridge tomorrow. Mmmm. Her oven roasted tomatoes came out so sweet and delicious and the sun-dried tomatoes offered a tangy flavor which I love. I used these cute little pasta shapes called orecchiette, meaning "ears." Aren't they adorable?

Roasted Tomato, Artichoke & Goat Cheese Pasta

1 8 oz package of pasta, any small shape will work

Olive oil, salt 'n' peppa

Sun-dried tomatoes, julienned

Cherry tomatoes, I used an 8 oz package

1 can artichoke hearts

Crumbled Goat cheese

1 Preheat toaster oven to 350. Slice cherry tomatoes lengthwise and toss with some olive oil, spoonful of brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Arrange cut side up in toaster oven and bake for 45-50 minutes until shriveled.

2 Boil water and cook pasta until al-dente, around 11 minutes for the short small pastas. Drain.

3 While pasta is boiling, drain can of artichoke hearts and season with salt and pepper. Toss with olive oil and broil in the oven for about 7 minutes or until beginning to brown.

4 Julienne the sun dried tomatoes.

5 Toss the pasta with the oven roasted tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, and artichokes. Crumble goat cheese on top.

This dish is being sent to Amy at Very Culinary for Presto Pasta Night.

Cherry Tomato Bites

This weekend is finally supposed to be warm and sunny. It has been a dreadful couple of weeks here down south — rainy, muggy, and gray. Finally some sunshine! and with that a fresh and tasty appetizer. I challenge you this weekend to eat outside and make these tomato bites —a perfect bite of juicy tomato, dense mozzarella, basil, and olive oil. You won't regret it! Don't forget to chill before serving.

Cherry Tomato Bites

Cherry Tomatoes — as many as you like

Olive Oil

Kosher Salt, Pepper

Fresh Mozerella, cubed into small pieces

Basil, sliced

1 Cut a small slice off the end of each cherry tomato. This is so that the tomatoes will sit level when standing upright. (Make sure not to cut too big of a slice or else the cup wont have a bottom.)
2 Make another slice  on the opposite side of the tomato and scoop out the pulp inside using a mellon baller or small spoon. Be careful not to puncture the skin on the bottom. Don't worry about what it looks like because it will be stuffed.

3 Arrange tomatoes on aluminum foil, all standing upright and hollow. Sprinkle all the cups with kosher salt and pepper.
4 Place cubed mozerella in each cup.

You can experiment with the size of the mozerella but I prefer the tomatoes to be really stuffed!

5 Drizzle olive oil over all the stuffed cups.
6 Garnish each tomato bite with a basil slice

7 Transfer the bites onto a serving platter and chill until ready to serve.