Balsamic Roasted Tomato-Basil Ice Cream

The ice cream flavor this week was very.... interesting. The first taste is sharp and strong, and I wasn't really sure what to think of it. The more I ate, the less strong the flavor seemed. I wouldn't call it good, but it wasn't horrible either. It was based on the recipe found here (with slight alterations).

• 1 pint of cherry/grape tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar + 1 pinch of salt to sprinkle over tomatoes while roasting
• ½ cup basil leaves packed
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 1-1/2 cups cream
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup ricotta cheese – room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut cherry/grape tomatoes in half and toss them with balsamic vinegar. Arrange cut cherry tomatoes, cut side up, on baking sheet. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt (about 1/4 tsp) and roast for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool completely. While your tomatoes are roasting in oven, side by side you can prepare for the ice cream base.

In a small bowl, mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup milk and keep it aside.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together remaining milk, cream, sugar, and salt. Add vanilla. Add basil leaves and bring it to boil over medium heat. Basil will add flavor and change a color only a bit.

When it comes to boil, cook it for 5 more minutes and then add cornstarch mixture while stirring continuously (Do not stop stirring, otherwise you will get cornstarch lumps)

Bring it to boil one more time and cook for another 5 minutes or until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Add ¼ cup of ricotta cheese to the mixture and mix well. Remove from heat and let it cool down.

While it is cooling down, purée those roasted cherry tomatoes in your blender. When milk mixture is almost at room temperature, strain the mixture through a fine sieve. Use back of your spoon to extract all the juices before discarding basil n vanilla. Now it is time to sieve pureed tomatoes. Just leave out seeds and skin of tomatoes.  So strain it well. I like the texture of tomato skin and seeds in my ice cream so I added a Tbsp of it before discarding it. So it is completely optional, if you want it add it.

Cover with cling film directly on the surface of milk mixture and refrigerate at least 2 hours to chill. I did it over night.

Once it is chilled, transfer mixture to an ice cream maker and process according to your manufacturer’s instructions.

When done, transfer ice cream to a freezer safe storage container and freeze until set.