If I had to write my own version of ‘these are a few of my favourite things’ from the Sound of Music, it would go something like - pesto and spinach and big blocks of goats cheese. Rocket, balsamic, and red roasted sunbeams….

I guess what I’m trying to say is - this salad has lots of my all time favourite ingredients and when you put them all together on one fork it’s just fantastic. You can have this salad on its own or use it as a lovely side dish to accompany a simple bowl of spaghetti. Of course, if you don’t like goats cheese you could turn this bad boy into a caprese with mozzarella or just use feta. 

Goats cheese and roasted cherry tomato salad with balsamic and rocket pesto

Ingredients

One bag of baby spinach

One punnet of cherry tomatoes

A small block of goats cheese

Half a bag of rocket

Lemon juice

Parmesan cheese

Balsamic vinegar

Honey

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat your oven to 180.

First things first, rinse your tomatoes and remove and stalks then dry off and pop into a roasting tin with lashings of olive oil and salt and pepper. Shake the tin so your tomatoes roll around in the oil and then put it in the oven. 

To make the pesto, put your rocket in a deep bowl with two small handfuls of parmesan, a big squeeze of lemon and a good glug of olive oil. You can either pop it all in the blender or just blitz it with a hand/stick blender like I do. Finito!

Now pour a finger full of balsamic vinegar in a bowl or jug and add two tablespoons of honey. Mix quickly with a spoon. Just check on your tomatoes at this stage, giving the baking tin another shake from side to side (with an oven glove on). The tomatoes will need between 10 and 15 minutes in the oven in total.

Now you can assemble your salad. You can portion it, put it all in a big salad bowl or if you have people coming for dinner and want to be a bit fancy, a lovely big platter works really well.

Empty your bag of spinach and lay it across the platter with room to dot your other ingredients. Start with your pesto, spooning bits all over the platter. 

Take your tomatoes out of the oven and use a spoon to scoop each tomato up and put on the platter. Now slice your goats cheese about half a cm thick and put in the same baking tray - popping in the oven for five minutes.

Once the cheese is all nice and soft, take it out of the oven and add to your salad. Finally drizzle your honey balsamic all over. 

Outcome

The warm, juicy and sweet tomatoes go ridiculously well with the tang of balsamic and the creaminess of goats cheese - and the added layer of peppery pesto can only be described as a taste sensation.

I know you’re probably wondering why I haven’t used pine nuts. It’s true - pine nuts are a regular addition to pesto and would work really well whole, sprinkled all over too. I urge all pine nut lovers to do just that if they so wish.

Read the original on: Jennie Eats Italy