Tomatoes, basil and cheese are the perfect food match and well-known as a caprese salad. Roasting the tomatoes first and then mixing them with Lemon Flavoured Avocado Oil creates a fantastic dressing which adds a delicious flavour to this impressive starter or side dish for a feast table.
INGREDIENTS
Oven-dried tomatoes
200 g baby rosa tomatoes, halved lengthwise
100 g cherry tomatoes, halved
large pinch of coarse salt
Caprese
45 ml (3 tbsp) Plain Avocado Oil
45 ml (3 tbsp) Lemon Flavoured Avocado Oil
3 large sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves stripped from the stalks
100 g exotic or more cherry tomatoes, quartered
1-2 medium, ripe tomatoes, cut in wedges and then halved
120 g bocconcini, halved or torn; or mozzarella, cubed; or ricotta cheese, crumbled
3 ripe avocados, halved, thinly sliced and fanned
fresh basil leaves
salt and pepper to taste
METHOD
1. Oven-dried tomatoes: Preheat oven to 180 °C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Place rosa and cherry tomatoes on the baking tray in a single layer. Sprinkle coarse salt over. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until cooked and almost dried, but still holding their shape.
3. Caprese: Place oven-dried tomatoes with any pan juices, avocado oils and rosemary in a bowl and mix through. Add fresh tomatoes and cheese to the oven-dried tomatoes and toss through gently.
4. Marinate tomato mixture for about 10-15 minutes.
5. Place avocados cut side down on a large platter or individual plates and fan slightly. Top with tomato mixture and fresh basil.
6. Season with salt and a grind of black pepper and drizzle with the remaining tomato marinade. Serve as a starter, salad, side dish or part of a feast table.
KITCHEN TIPS
1. Garlic Flavoured Avocado Oil will also be delicious in this recipe. Substitute 15 ml (1 tbsp) of the plain avocado oil with garlic-flavoured avocado oil.
2. When fresh avocados aren’t available, enjoy the tomato mixture with Plain Guacamole.
3. The tomato mixture and avocado will be delicious as part of a brunch or breakfast. Enjoy with eggs and toasted ciabatta.
4. Try this recipe with any other cheese of your choice, like blue cheese, feta, pecorino or creamy goat’s cheese.
Avocado caprese – Westfalia Fruit. (2020, October 20). Westfalia Fruit.
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This physalis crumble is a heart-warming dessert. The oatmeal gives the crumble a nice crunch. Add an extra delicious touch with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients
- Crumble
- 75 g cane sugar
- 75 g flour
- 75 g oatmeal
- 90 g cold butter
- 100 g physalis berries
- 1 mango
- 1 pear
- 1 lime
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- Salt
Preparation method
Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
Mix the sugar with the flour, oatmeal and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and add to the bowl. Quickly knead into a dough that clings together. Put in the fridge until needed.
Cut the mango into two halves along the stone. Score each half into squares without cutting through the skin. Turn out the halves with your thumb and slice off the cubes. Or use a mango slicer. Place them in a bowl.
Slice the unpeeled pear into quarters, remove the core and cut the flesh into cubes. Remove the papery husks from the physalis berries and rinse them. Squeeze the lime. Add the pear, physalis berries, lime juice, cinnamon and vanilla sugar to the mango.
Divide the fruit over the oven dishes and crumble the dough over the top. Make sure the fruit is well covered. Bake the crumble in the middle of the oven for approx. 20 mins until golden brown.
Tip: No small oven dishes? Then use a large oven dish of approx. 20 cm and extend the baking time by 5 minutes.
Variation tip: Add 2 cm freshly grated EAT ME ginger to the filling for an extra flavour boost.
Enjoy!
EAT ME. (2021). Physalis berry crumble. EAT ME.
I don’t think I’ve ever walked by a fruit stand selling physalis (also known as ground cherries) and not picked up a punnet. These lovely vibrant, sweet and sour berries are too much to miss out on. Besides, the look of them makes me happy — they are such a graceful little berry; like something out of a fairy tale. Not to mention: total autumn vibes ??
Turns out they make a pretty darn good raw cheesecake too.
If you’ve never tried physalis, I highly recommend giving these berries a try — especially if you love things with a bit of a zing, like passion fruit, citrus, etc. ?
They go by different names in different places: physalis, ground cherries, cape gooseberries, golden berries, Inca berries, Aztec berries, and the list goes on… Honestly, with such an international audience picking the right name for the berry has been the most difficult thing about describing this recipe ?. Every time I say “physalis,” someone asks if I mean “ground cherries,” if I say “ground cherries” I’m asked if it’s the same thing as “golden berries,” and so on… I don’t even know what we say here in Canada anymore — just sticking to physalis! 🙂 If they’re called something else in your country, leave a comment — the more the merrier ?. The good thing is the berries’ look is so distinct, you won’t miss them at the fruit stand.
And when you’re done admiring the lovely husks, remove them and get caking!
If you’ve never tried physalis, I highly recommend giving these berries a try — especially if you love things with a bit of a zing, like passion fruit, citrus, etc. ?
They go by different names in different places: physalis, ground cherries, cape gooseberries, golden berries, Inca berries, Aztec berries, and the list goes on… Honestly, with such an international audience picking the right name for the berry has been the most difficult thing about describing this recipe ?. Every time I say “physalis,” someone asks if I mean “ground cherries,” if I say “ground cherries” I’m asked if it’s the same thing as “golden berries,” and so on… I don’t even know what we say here in Canada anymore — just sticking to physalis! 🙂 If they’re called something else in your country, leave a comment — the more the merrier ?. The good thing is the berries’ look is so distinct, you won’t miss them at the fruit stand.
And when you’re done admiring the lovely husks, remove them and get caking!
If for some reason you can’t find any where you are / current season, etc., or just can’t have these berries, a lovely similar and slightly exotic-flavored alternative is this longan fruit raw cheesecake. But of course I hope you do find some of these berries, so you can give both these cakes a go… ??
In a raw cheesecake recipe like this they add a beautiful natural pastel yellow color, a lovely tartness, and a playful autumnal feel. And of course, as with various other berries, a good dose of added nutrition.
It’s a nice switch-up from a regular old cheesecake treat for when you’re feeling like something more sophisticated, but which requires the most minimal effort to get there (aka pretty much all my baking in a nutshell ??).
A couple of notes:
I used pistachios to accent the cake as a topping and loved the added flavor. In retrospect, I think this cake would be lovely with a pistachio crust as well.
As usual lately, this recipe is for a small 4″ cake. Triple (thinner) or quadruple (taller) for a 6″ if you prefer. Note, if you have a low-profile blender, you might have to increase the cake size. I make these small cakes using my Vitamix, but I know for those that upgraded to the newer low-profile models blending small batches for raw cakes can be a challenge. I explain a bit more about it on my baking resources page. Also, see cake multiplication guide further down to help you increase the cake size as needed.
INGREDIENTS
Crust
½ cup raw cashews
1 soft medjool date, pitted
½ tbsp maple syrup
½ tbsp coconut oil
Filling
½ cup raw cashews, pre-soaked and strained*
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp maple syrup
20 physalis berries, de-husked
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
Optional toppings
A few more physalis berries, chopped pistachios
INSTRUCTIONS
Process all crust ingredients in a food processor into a sticky crumble. Transfer to a 4″ springform pan and press down into a flat crust. Freeze while working on the next step.
Blend all filling ingredients in a power blender into a smooth consistency (make sure they’re all at room temp first). Pour the filling into the pan over the crust and smooth out the top. Decorate with desired toppings.
Freeze for 5-6 hours or overnight. Thaw out slightly, slice and enjoy! (Keep leftovers frozen).
