White Tomato Cappuccino

I recently had a fantastic stay at the Double Tree By Hilton hotel (more about that coming soon!), and one of things that blew me away was dinner. I don’t think their restaurant even has a name, and you don’t really expect more than “decent”. Wow, I was wrong.

The dinner started off two foamy cups, that we were told is “white tomato cappucino”. It blew me away.

I have a habit of laughing when I have something really tasty food. I don’t know why I do it, and I can’t help it. I’ve tried.

I would take a sip, chuckle to myself, take another sip, and chuckle some more, trying to keep the volume down so people don’t think I’m nuts. I am a bit crazy, I’m sure of it, but strangers don’t need to know that!

The flavour was very clean and strongly tomato, without the normal “tang”, that I really don’t like. It was also white all the way through, which I found really surprising, and made me cackle some more.

I decided there and then, that I would try and make it when I got home.

Years ago I found that the liquid that settles out of tomatoes (and mushrooms) when you roast them is packed with tomato punch and only slightly red – it’s wondrous!

I used cherry tomatoes because they looked the ripest, but you can use any fresh tomatoes, but the riper the better. If they still have their stalks, roast them them together; there a lot of flavour in the stalks.

The trick is to put your tomatoes in tinfoil, and seal thoroughly so that no steam get’s lost. I set my oven to 180 degrees (Celsius), and left them to roast and breakdown for 30-40 minutes. It’s a good idea to check on them every now and then to make sure none of your liquid is spilling out anywhere.

Once roasted, I prick a hole in the foil at one of the corners and watch this almost golden tomato liquid drain into a container.

I filled 3/4 of a cup with the liquid, and gave a little pour (probably a tablespoon or so) of cream. I poured it all into a milk-frother and frothed and heated it up until it was a good drinking temperature, and sprinkled on some smoke paprika.  It came out fantastic, and incredibly close to the original!

Note: Though this is incredibly delicious, it is also incredibly rich, so small cups are you friend with this.