Tomato Raspberry Vinaigrette

A chef friend shared this amazing recipe with me recently. Heavenly for summer tomatoes.

1. Take a sheet pan and cover the bottom with a very thin layer of olive oil.  Place the pan in the oven (350 degrees pre-heated) and let the pan warm up for about 3 minutes.
2. Carefully place 6-7 ripe red tomatoes on the pan in the olive oil cut into halves.  Remove the stem from the top of tomatoes beforehand. 
3. Lightly salt and pepper the tomatoes to taste.  Pour raspberry vinegar on the top of the tomatoes (and onto the pan).  No more than 1 cup of vinegar is needed.
4. When the tomatoes have roasted, the skin will begin to darken and separate from the tomatoes.  Roast until the tomato has cooked through to the middle. 
5. Pull pan out of oven and let rest for 10 minutes (to cool).
6. Pinch the tomato peel off (this should be fairly easy since the peel has separated from the juicy middle).  Take the now peel-less roasted tomatoes and place them in a food processor or blender.  Pulse until fully incorporated (until fully reduced to sauce-like consistency). 
7. Add fresh basil strips and sea salt and pepper to taste. 

For my husband's birthday, I layered brown rice, garlic sauteed spinach, and baked chicken. I poured the vinaigrette over the top, added some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and basil strips. OMG--now, it's a birthday classic.

This week, I used it to make a pasta sauce by adding it to some local ground sausage, onions, garlic, and spinach. Again, super yummy.

Tonight, I plan to make an egg scramble with it. I also plan to scavenge for tomatoes the next couple of weeks, make this recipe in quantity, and freeze it to get me through the winter. Oh, I will be so in love with myself in December!