KITCHEN INSPO: A Not-Quite Caprese

A classic Caprese, minus... most of the ingredients?

A non-traditional / faux / maybe not at all Caprese featuring a Snoopy and Woodstock cameo.

I recently asked a very important question about tomato season: “Do we all have to jump on the tomato train every year like we’ve never seen it before??” I then proceeded to buy so many tomatoes you might have thought I was launching a new spaghetti sauce brand. The point is this: my actions don’t always match my complaints.

And so my fridge has been stuffed with tomatoes. I’ve been throwing them into every dish, which was fun at first, but as time marched forward, I realized I had bought too many tomatoes. How was I going to get through them all before they went bad?

“BUT MY TOMATOES!” a voice in my head bleated out whenever I deigned to craft a non-tomato meal. “DON’T FAIL THEM!”

Even as I write this newsletter, I’m thinking about the bag of amazing cherry tomatoes in my fridge. Should I make yet another pasta with them? Cook them with fish? Make a weird ice cream?? (I won’t make a weird ice cream).

Now let’s raise the stakes. While in the midst of this tomato-induced anxiety, I went to local bakery Tartine for lunch (a guilt-ridden lunch, given that there were tomatoes slowly dying at home). I yapped so long with friends that the place actually shut down on us, and as consolation for kicking us out, the owners gifted each of us a free loaf of bread.

Well, a free loaf from Tartine is the stuff of bougie dreams. I couldn’t just let it go to waste! Now not only did I have internal pressure to use my tomatoes, but I had the added urgency of a fancy loaf. There was only one way forward for this hero’s journey: an open-faced sandwich.

The plan was simple: a Caprese on toast. Normally I would reach for a sliceable, large-format tomato, but my cherry tomatoes were on the verge of going bad — I had already removed one oozing, moldy zombie from the bag — so, I felt it was of the highest priority to address them first.

I dumped all the cherry tomatoes (about three cups’ worth) into a bowl and added a few glugs of olive oil and some salt and pepper. I also tossed in two or three garlic cloves (I honestly don’t remember if I minced them, sliced them, or crushed them through a press) and then mixed everything up with my hands.

Enter the air fryer - a device I use less for frying and more for intense roasting. I set the machine for 17 minutes at 400 degrees and placed in the tomatoes. Within 30 seconds, my kitchen smelled like the most fabulous pizzeria. If nothing else, I recommend following these steps just for the scent.

I know what you’re thinking: why is it taking you so many paragraphs to describe putting tomatoes in an air fryer? Fair. But you might also be thinking this: why are you using so many tomatoes for a simple tartine? And why are you even touching an air fryer for a Caprese?

First, the quantity issue. I decided to cook all the tomatoes off because they were about to go bad (read above statement about oozing tomato interloper), and I figured whichever tomatoes I didn’t use for the sandwich I would add to other dishes (omelets, pastas, salads, other sandwiches).

As for the use of the air fryer in a Caprese: well, again, I wanted to cook the tomatoes off, but also, the idea of tediously slicing a bunch of raw cherry tomatoes was annoying to me. I had visions of me biting into the bread and juicy coins of tomato endlessly toppling off onto my plate. That’s not how I want to live. Roasted cherry tomatoes become saggy when roasted, which means they kind of just rest on the bread like a bunch of beanbags. No slicing necessary to keep everything in place! And yes, I realize it takes longer to air fry cherry tomatoes than it does to slice them, but the active time is much less. Plus, who can deny the aforementioned aroma?

Most importantly, roasting is a great way to draw out big flavors from tomatoes, especially out of season. It’s less of an issue with cherry tomatoes, which tend to be pretty intense no matter what time of year it is, but that doesn’t mean they don’t benefit from a spin in the air fryer. And so in they went.

With the tomatoes roasting away, I toasted a slice of the Tartine bread with some olive oil and then topped it with the all-essential mozzarella.

Unfortunately, I didn’t actually have mozzarella. But I did have cream cheese! Admittedly, cream cheese is tangy whereas mozzarella is mild-flavored, but a long-running theory I have is that cream cheese is… the best? And again, it’s all I really had; so, cream cheese it was. (This is not without precedent: some would argue that cream cheese and tomato is an equally classic combo). If I had been really ambitious, I might have whipped the cream cheese with a little milk to make it fluffy and luxurious, but who wants to make even more dishes?

By the time the tomatoes came out of the air fryer, they were plump, charred, and on the verge of bursting (if they hadn’t already). I carefully placed as many as I could onto the toast, added a small drizzle of olive oil and balsamic, and topped with chopped, fresh basil leaves. A nontraditional Caprese was born!

This was perfect. The bright flavor explosion from the cherry tomatoes was tempered and complemented by the cream cheese. It was tang-on-tang goodness. Naturally, the basil was a wonderful supporting player, and the bread, which was already amazing on its own, just elevated the entire sandwich.

It may go without saying, but if you make this, don’t skip the toasting. Not only is the crispiness a joy, but the juiciness of the tomatoes, oil, and vinegar will absolutely decimate untoasted bread. No one wants that… unless that’s your thing.

So, here’s the kitchen inspo in summary:

1. Toss a bunch of cherry tomatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. Add to an air fryer and roast at 400F for 17 minutes (checking occasionally for doneness).

2. Toast a slice of crusty bread. Optionally brush with olive oil beforehand.

3. Spread cream cheese on the toast. Top with roasted tomatoes and sliced basil. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic (don’t go too heavy on the balsamic).

Some ideas for subs:

• For the cream cheese:

  • Mozzarella (obvs)

  • Ricotta

  • Creme fraiche

  • Greek yogurt (maybe add some salt and pepper)

• For the cherry tomatoes:

  • literally any other tomato, sliced thickly. May need to reduce cooking time by 5-7 minutes.

• For the air fryer:

  • A convection oven or a regular oven. May need to add time. I might raise temp to 425.

• For the bread:

  • You could go wild and use a bagel. Not my preferred use of a bagel though.

  • If you want to go breadless, whip that cream cheese and swirl it onto your plate so it creates a fluffy bed. Top with the cherry tomatoes, basil, oil, and vinegar.

• For the basil:

  • Italian parsley will not be as summery as basil, but it will perform its duty as a fresh, tender herb. It would be my chief substitute.

  • You might be able to pull off a fresh oregano moment, but it would probably be better tossed with the tomatoes in the air fryer.

  • Fresh mint might work since it’s a cousin of basil, but I would use it more sparingly as a little mint goes a long way. Mint could drastically alter the profile of the dish, but perhaps in a great way!

What twists have you put on the traditional Caprese? And how have you used roasted tomatoes?