Crottin toasts with rocket, tomato and caramelised shallot salad
Starters
Quite easy
4
60 min
Heat the oven to 120ºC/fan 100ºC/Gas ½. Halve the tomatoes and put in a shallow tin cut sides up. Brush lightly with olive oil and season with a little salt and pepper. Bake for 2 hours, until the tomatoes are semi dried.
Heat the oil in a pan, add the shallots and fry gently for 10 minutes until the shallots are starting to become tender. Add the vinegar, salt and pepper and cook for a further 2 minutes. Set aside.
Toast the baguette on one side only. Shave a thin slice of rind off the ends of each Crottin, then cut them in half. Put half a Crottin on the untoasted side of each slice of baguette and grill until the cheese is golden.
4 Pile the rocket onto four plates. Set two Crottin toasts on each and arrange the shallots and tomatoes around. Drizzle with the dressing from the shallots.
8 small ripe vine tomatoes 8 shallots, peeled and halved 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 8 slices from a baguette loaf 4 French Goats cheese Crottins de Chavignol AOC 120g bag rocket
Slow roasting the tomatoes gives them an intense sweetness which is a perfect foil for the richness of the crottins. Both the tomatoes and shallots can be prepared a day before serving and stored in the fridge until you need them.
