I love making this dish in the summer, when the Farmers’ Market is filled with red ripe tomatoes and multi-coloured heritage tomatoes are plentiful.
That being said, it is a real treat to serve this dish in March, when summer tomatoes seem far off and the weather hasn’t really started to warm up yet.
The trick to this recipe is to broil the Feta cheese just before you are ready to serve the dish. You also need to keep an eye on it, as the Feta cheese can get hard if it is broiled too long. It needs to be removed from the broiler just as it starts to get a little colour.
Gently wiggle a spatula under the Feta cheese, since at this point it is quite soft and your goal is to place an unbroken piece of Feta on top of the tomatoes.
The combination of the flavours of basil, Feta cheese and tomatoes is amazing!
Grilled Feta Cheese with Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 4 tomatoes - roma or heritage
- 1 head iceberg lettuce
- 400 g feta cheese - block, not crumbled
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 bunch basil - fresh
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 dash black pepper - freshly ground
Instructions
- Slice tomatoes and arrange on serving plates with a garnish sized portion of lettuce.
- Cut the feta into 8 even slices. Turn the oven on to the broil setting.
- Place the feta on cookie sheet which has been lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with oil.
- A few minutes before you will sit down to dinner, heat under broiler until lightly browned. Carefully lift the warm feta off the parchment paper and place on top of the tomatoes.
- Sprinkle the chopped basil over the tomatoes and feta. Drizzle with oil and freshly grated pepper.