Balsamic Syrup – Tomato Time

The tomatoes are here,  I was at the farmer’s market in Basalt today and the heirlooms and beefsteaks are just starting to show up. I love love these tomatoes.  I bought these beauties today and am going to make a balsamic syrup (reduction) from just ordinary balsamic and drizzle it on my tomatoes .  This is the recipe ( super easy ) for balsamic syrup, I am well aware that you can buy this syrup, however there is no need to if you have a spare 1/2 hour and a bottle of balsamic vinegar. No excuse not to do it, I’m sure you all have some balsamic vinegar in the house, in the time it takes to slice a few tomatoes and cut up some basil you can have homemade balsamic syrup.  Hit the farmer’s market and grab some of these tomatoes . I am going to garnish with some of my home grown basil, and if you like feta or fresh mozzarella it would be amazing on this as well. I actually did sprinkle just a touch of crumbled feta cheese tonite. The balsamic was sweet and delicious, and gave a very sweet flavor to tomatoes and feta cheese and basil. Here’s the bonus, this delicious balsamic syrup will last indefinitely in an airtight container ( I use a mason jar), keep it in fridge and take out when you want to use it.

Balsamic Syrup:

1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar

Bring the vinegar to a boil in a medium heavy saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until vinegar reduces by nearly 3/4 of its original volume and starts to thicken like a syrup, this should take anywhere between 20 – 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool completely before using.  This delicious syrup is great on crusty bread as well. Makes for an amazing dipping sauce.