Baked Tomatoes and Olives with Cream Cheese

Ingredients
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 garlic clove, minced or finely chopped
10 black olives
1 T olive oil
A few sprigs of fresh thyme or oregano, or ½ t dried thyme or oregano (or mixed Italian dried herbs)
100g Angel Food dairy-free cream cheese, cubed


Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC.

  2. Place the tomatoes, garlic, olives and olive oil in a small oven-proof dish (ideally a dish suitable for serving as well as baking).

  3. Add most of the thyme/oregano (keep a little aside as a garnish).

  4. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the tomatoes are very soft.

  5. Remove from the oven, and tuck the cream cheese cubes in among the tomatoes and olives. The heat of the dish will soften the cheese.

  6. Sprinkle with fresh thyme or oregano (or parsley or chives).

  7. Serve immediately with crisp crackers for scooping and soft bread to soak up the juices.


I love everything about this dish - just a few ingredients, and just a few minutes to prepare. The colours and flavours are perfect, and when you serve it with both crunchy crackers and soft bread the variety of textures works together so well. The crackers are great for scooping up the stars of the show - olives, cream cheese, tomato - and the soft bread soaks up the delicious garlicky olive-y juices at the end. 

Entertaining friends and family should be relaxing and enjoyable for the hosts as well as the guests! Choosing dishes with a small number of ingredients can reduce the pressure especially if they can be completely or mostly prepared ahead of time.




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