the novice chef...

one thing i was looking forward to most about having my own kitchen (complete with new black appliances, thank you!) was finally putting my obsession with the Food Network to good use.  that being said, first attempts have not panned out so well...  seems my food often smells and looks better than it actually tastes; that, and i haven't had to actually use cook ware for over 2 years is further complicating the process.

either way, i'm slowly getting closer to the food trifecta.  last night, i once again used poor Drew as my guinea pig and tried out an appetizer.  I made roasted tomatoes with garlic gorgonzola by the lovely Giada De Laurentiis, and I would recommend them with some slight modifications!

INGREDIENTS:

12 roma tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise

1/4 cup of olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup plain breadcrumbs

3/4 cup finely crumbled Gorgonzola or grated Parmesan

Parsley for garnish

basically you remove the seeds from the tomato halves, then marinate them in the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper for about 10 minutes.  then, you fill them with the mixture of bread crumbs and cheese, before baking them at 375 for 25 minutes.  however, i would tone down the bread crumbs, like, a LOT, and use a completely different stuffing.   the tomatoes themselves with the marinade were amazing, but next time i make them, i think i will cube mozzarella then toss it them balsamic vinegar as the inside... yumm!