Tomato, olive flat bread

I was making bread as an appetizer on the weekend and I had harvested two large plum tomatoes from my deck and wanted to hilight them as they are the first large tomatoes I have grown in over 30 years.

To concentrate the already wonderful flavour of the fresh tomatoes I roasted them in the oven first.  I sliced them thinly, sprinkled with salt and pepper and olive oil and then roasted in a 300 oven for 20 minutes.

Before roasting

This dries the tomatoes a little and intensifies their flavour.  If you did not want to go through this extra step, you could use sun dried tomatoes.

I made my favourite foccacia bread but before baking it I brushed on olive oil and then placed the roasted tomato slices and a few olives sliced evenly over the top.

I then sprinkled on about 1/2 cup of freshly grated parmazen cheese.

I baked in a 450 oven for about 20 minutes until the bread was crusty and brown on the outside.

After it had cooled just a little I sprinkled over some torn basil leaves, this not only added flavour, but brightened up the colours too.

I served this cut in to squares and served on wooden board while we enjoyed a pre dinner drink in the last rays of sunshine on the deck.