We love butter around here. The super fancy Champagne of butter beloved by the likes of Ina Garten, the goofy vodka butter best for trotting out at parties, and even the radioactive-hued replicant topping popcorn at movie theaters everywhere. We’ll build a compound butter for any occasion, and with almost anything fit to mix. Tomatoes are no exception.
Tomatoes give even the best butters a perky kick that little can bring other than a tomato’s signature acid, bright garden freshness, and vibrant color. And you’ll want to use the little guys for the biggest impact. We prefer cherry tomatoes rather than grape for this preparation, as their enhanced sweetness seems to bounce off the butter’s salinity, whether you’re using a salted stick or adding it in. When working with a single stick, we’re also only going to use half of the standard pint of tomatoes. Once even more herbs, spices and alliums enter the equation, it all gets thinned out quickly. Likewise, many recipes call for firing the tomatoes whole, but we also find that it’s better to scoop out most of their seeds and juice so as not to introduce too much liquid and dilute the butter’s composition. We also incorporate just the teensiest amount of a not-so-secret ingredient.
You like to-may-to and we like to-mah-to butter
Once your cherry tomatoes are halved and roughly cored, they’re ready for the broiler. Light it up, and cook for about 4 minutes before first checking for roasted doneness. Once cooled and removed to the food processor, add in any additionally desired flavors like salt (which you probably only need when working with unsalted butter), pepper, garlic, and chopped herbs like basil or thyme. We also like to tap in a few shakes of MSG.
While that garden freshness in just-picked tomatoes is dreamy, we’re more often working with the good old grocery store harvest. Since store-bought tomatoes can be a bit blander, the MSG will revive what’s already naturally inside. Give it all a few quick pulses in the appliance before adding the room-temperature butter just to get your base nicely blended, then finish bringing it all together. The resulting tomato butter is lovely right on a baguette, terrific for grilled cheese, and brilliant on garlic bread.
