Salade de tomates ailles, ricotte et roquette

I know, I know. My silence has been long and inexcusable. And, believe me, a lot has happened in the past three months. But very little of it has been cooking. Or, I should so, very little has been good cooking. According to the Boy, we've finally become "Americans," (no offense) ordering in food or eating mostly prepared food that takes as little time as possible to make it from the fridge to the table. Trader Joe's has become my best friend for this reason, because at least I know their food doesn't have all kinds of artificial crap in it. Yuck! My excuse for all this is that I work in theatre, as an actress and a stage manager, and, lately, I've had a lot of work, which means nighttime rehearsals, which means getting home late at night with neither the desire nor the energy to cook. That, and the stores are all closed.

But everything changed on November 9. That was my 23rd birthday and, as one of my presents, the Boy presented me with Tom Colicchio's new book, Craft of Cooking. That night, we had dinner at Craft, the first restaurant of Colicchio's empire. I devoured the book, then the meal and was reminded of why I got into good cooking, good eating and began this blog in the first place. This was quite possibly the best meal I've ever had and Colicchio's food theory--let the ingredients shine; the chef's job is to bring out the ingredients to the best of his/her capability and not to show off--is the same as mine. Upon returning home, slightly tipsy, full and very happy, I began planning meals for the upcoming weeks. Not all of them are complicated, of course. But they are exciting in some way, at least to me. So stay tuned and thanks for your patience!

This salad was inspired by a trip to the Greenmarket where the last of the season's Heirloom Tomatoes were trying valiantly to survive. I also found Ricotta Cheese made out of Goat's Milk by Patches of Star Dairy. And, finally, I used Wild Arugula, which I much prefer to regular. Of course, I'm sure this salad would also be delicious with the more "normal" versions of these ingredients. Enjoy!

Salade de tomates ailles, ricotte et roquette

• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• Pinch Kosher Salt, or to taste
• 2 pinches Black Pepper, ground
• 2 pinches Cinnamon, ground
• 5 Tomatoes, quartered
• 1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
• Peel of 1/2 Lemon, grated
• Pinch Fleur de Sel
• 1/4 bunch Arugula, coarsely chopped
  

Pre-heat Broiler.

Mix together Olive Oil, Garlic, Kosher Salt, Pepper and Cinnamon in a glass bowl. Add Tomatoes and toss to coat. Place Tomatoes, cut side up, on a broiler pan (cover with Aluminum Foil to make clean-up easier). drizzle with Garlic-Oil mixture from bowl and broil 5 minutes.

In the same bowl (don't clean it), mix together Ricotta, Lemon Peel, Fleur de Sel, Pepper, Cinnamon and Arugula. Add cooked Tomatoes and toss. Serve while Tomatoes are still slightly warm.