Crispix: It’s a light and crispy (who would’ve guessed), hexagonal cereal from Kellogg’s that has rice on one side and corn on the other. The two sides are fused via some sort of black magic to create a 3D piece that looks a bit like a mind-blowing magic-eye piece of art. What do you see among all those criss-crossing baked lines?
The scent of the cereal is refined, corny, and plain. It smells like one of those parties where there are no real hors d’oeuvres but the host has about 100 small bowls of Chex Mix strategically placed throughout the house.
As any Crispix muncher will quickly find out, the comparisons to be drawn between this cereal and Chex Mix are many, as the dual sides of the hexagons are essentially just pieces of Rice Chex and Corn Chex haphazardly stuck together through some miracle of food science. Or maybe just Elmer’s Glue. I can only imagine the brainstorming that went down in Kellogg’s headquarters:
“Sir, we’ve finished our version of a Chex cereal. General Mills won’t know what hit ’em!”
“How many sides does it have?” [Imagine this guy with a Darth Vader voice.]
“Uh, just four, sir. L-like Chex?”
“Add two more.”
“But sir, the product will be unstable!”
“Do as I say! And breed the pieces to create a hybrid cereal Übermensch while you’re at it!”
And now that we have the magic behind the crunchy Crispix crust explained, just top it with parmesan cheese, balsamic roasted tomatoes, another sprinkling of blue cheese, and fresh basil. NOW you’ve got yourself a decadent piece of goodness:
Crispy Tomato Torte
Crispy Tomato Torte
Crispy Crust:
12 oz. Crispix cereal
16 Tbs. butter
1 large egg
Layers:
8 oz. parmesan cheese, shredded
2 tsp. olive oil
12 oz. cherry tomatoes
sea salt and pepper
1 Tbs. balsamic reduction (glaze)
2 oz. crumbled blue cheese
fresh basil, finely chopped
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Process the crispy cereal in the bowl of a large food processor to a fine crumb.
Chop the butter into small pieces and that and the egg to the crumbs. Pulse and process until doughy.
Press into a 9-11″ parchment lined quick release (cheese cake) pan.
Top with the shredded parmesan and bake for 15 minutes or so, until the cheese is beginning to brown and bubble.
Remove from the oven. Chill for a few hours.
Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium heat.
Add the tomatoes, along with a generous amount of sea salt and pepper.
Cover and cook, reducing the tomatoes into a thick sauce and breaking up the cherry pops with the back of a spoon, stirring every so often.
Once thick, add the balsamic reduction and reduce even further, about 5 more minutes.
Pour the thickened tomato sauce over the chilled crust.
Top with blue cheese crumbles and fresh basil.
Serve room temperature or warm for the ultimate decadence.
