Excerpted from Green Fire by Francis Mallmann (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2022.
Highly contrasting tastes and textures often play harmoniously together. Here the tomatoes are soft, quite sweet, and pleasantly acidic. Pepato is a semi-hard sheep’s-milk pecorino, studded with whole black peppercorns. It is salty, with a peppery kick and a hint of caramel sweetness that wake up your palate.
Serves 4
4 Tomatoes Confit (page 65)
8 ounces (227 g) pecorino pepato cheese, shaved
Extra-virgin olive oil
Prepare a fire for medium heat and warm the plancha. If cooking indoors, heat a large cast-iron griddle over medium heat.
Place the tomatoes on a sheet pan and stuff a generous amount of cheese into the center of each. Drizzle the cheese with a little olive oil.
Brush the hot plancha or griddle generously with olive oil. Working with one tomato at a time and using a wide sharp-edged spatula, in one quick motion invert each tomato, cheese side down, onto the hot surface. Leave them there for several minutes, until the cheese has melted and each tomato is nicely browned. Lift the tomatoes off the plancha or griddle and flip them, cheese side up, onto a serving platter. Serve immediately.
