Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

You think I’ve been slacking off, don’t you? Just because I haven’t posted a new recipe in, oh ten days? As if. Life is simply insane right now—I’m smack-dab in the middle of two weeks of deadline after deadline, on top of (as always) writing and testing recipes for the book. All I’ve been able to manage, blog-wise, is some daily chat with WTEB’s Facebook fans. They know I’m still thinking of you.

Now, on to the important stuff: Food.

If you’ve been reading here a while, you know I have a tendency to overbuy when it comes to tomatoes. This season is no different—in fact, last week I supplemented my farmers’ market haul with a pound of Campari tomatoes. Have you seen them in your supermarket? Size-wise, they fall between their cherry and plum cousins, and flavor-wise, they’re super-sweet. If I get a hankering in the off-season, I’ll splurge on these babies. But during the summer? Totally not necessary. Which means that package I bought sat on the counter, neglected, until the tomatoes were on the verge of rotting. Seemed a shame to waste them, so I sliced them in half across their little waistlines, put them cut-side up on a baking sheet, drizzled with oil, sprinkled with salt & pepper, and popped them into a low oven for the better part of a day.

The result is tangy and rich like a sun-dried tomato, but still juicy and soft enough to pop into your mouth as-is. I didn’t have an immediate use for them, so I piled them into a jar (along with the cloves of garlic I roasted alongside), topped it off with olive oil, and stuck the jar in the fridge. It’ll hold there a good couple of weeks.

So far I’ve tossed some into a salad, and mixed a few more into an experimental flatbread. I’ve still got quite a few left. Aimee at SimpleBites wrote about hers today—she turns them into an elegant canapé.

If you had a jar of these lovely morsels in your fridge, how would you use them?

Slow-Roasted Tomatoes
Weight Watchers: Straight out of the oven, they’re 0 points each. Once they’re stored in olive oil, I’d count each whole tomato as 1 point.

1 pound cherry or Campari tomatoes
Fresh herbs, chopped, optional
Garlic cloves, separated but unpeeled
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

1. Set the oven to 200°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silicone liner.
2. Cut the tomatoes in half through the equator, and place them cut-side up on the baking sheet. If you’re using fresh herbs, sprinkle some on top of each half.
3. Drizzle with olive oil—seriously, it doesn’t need much. I used about a teaspoon for the entire tray. Rub oil on the garlic cloves and scatter them on the tray.
4. Sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper, and into the oven it goes.
5. Bake for 3 to 4 hours, until the tomatoes’ edges are shriveled and the tops are set, but they still feel soft and a little juicy.
6. Use right away, or store in an airtight container, topped with olive oil, for a few weeks.