Italian Balsamic Tomatoes Recipe
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Classic Italian balsamic tomatoes made with the last of summer’s heirlooms and red onions glazed with an aged balsamic reduction and a touch of fragrant basil. A back pocket recipe that you should be making all summer long.
Say good bye to summer with the loveliest balsamic infused tomatoes. What a show off!
Balsamic Tomato Salad Dressing / Glaze
The idea here is to concentrate the flavors of aged balsamic vinegar while taking the sting off of the red onion, before bringing them all together into a marriage of wonderful summery aromas.
A really simple concept but it requires a little extra effort than simply drizzling some vinegar over sliced tomatoes. It’s absolutely worth dirtying up a pan for this one you guys.
What Are the Best Tomatoes for Salad?
You really want to take advantage of the perfectly ripe, sweet and fragrant end of summer tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes would be ideal for this dish but any cherry, Sungold or even yellow grape variety would work just fine as well. Honestly, use a mix or whatever you have in season in your area right now, whatever beauty you find at your local farmer’s market or your own garden.
Can I add vegan cheese to tomato salad?
Glad you asked friends. I find that these tomatoes pair really nice with a vegan feta cheese like Violife or our homemade vegan mozzarella. However, if you do go this route then refrain from tossing the cheese into the salad. Sprinkle it over the top instead as it looks nicer and also maintains different layers of flavor.
Serving suggestions…
- On toast aka bruschetta
- Over a bed of quinoa
- With creamed spinach and mashed potatoes
- Topped with vegan feta or fresh dairy free mozzarella
- Next to these scalloped or rosemary potatoes
- Tossed with orecchiette pasta & vegan Italian sausages
- Vegan steak , roast or jackfruit ribs.
More Tomato Recipes
- Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Italian Tomato Salad
- Panzanella Bread Salad
- Garden Focaccia
- Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta
- Heirloom Tomato Tart
- Cherry Tomato Basil Pasta
How to Make Balsamic Tomatoes
- Start by choosing the best heirloom tomatoes you can get your hands on.
- Quickly sautee thinly sliced red onion with aged balsamic vinegar and a touch of brown sugar. Once reduced by half you will have the most luscious balsamic glaze to dress your tomatoes with.
- Finish with a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some fresh fragrant basil leaves.
Italian Balsamic Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 4 medium size heirloom tomatoes
- 1/4 red onion or 1 shallot thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup aged balsamic vinegar
- 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 10 basil leaves
- sea salt & black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat a skillet over medium flame. Add a splash of water (or a light drizzle of olive oil and sautee the onion with the brown sugar and a pinch of sea salt until the onions start to soften. A couple of minutes should be enough. Add the balsamic vinegar and simmer until reduced by half.
- Slice the tomatoes into bite size wedges and place them on a serving platter. Pour the onion balsamic vinegar reduction over the top. Drizzle with the olive oil and give it a gentle toss to coat. Adjust seasonings to taste with sea salt and black pepper, i used some coarse volcanic black salt but any sea salt will do.
- Sprinkle with the fresh basil leaves and serve.
WFPB + Plantricious
- To make this recipe WFPB and Plantricious compliant simply omit the olive oil and replace the brown sugar with date syrup.
Amazing recipe, love that it is different than just tomatoes coated in balsamic vinegar. A really special recipe to impress guests or a really nice treat for yourself. Thanks for sharing, keep them coming!
Thank you for also adding the WFPB option to the recipe which allows me to make it, looking forward to it.