You say tomato. I say slow oven-roasted tomato…
When I saw these pop up on Food In Jars’ Facebook page a couple weeks ago, I knew that I would be making them. They are the most delicious thangs — sweet, chewy, and intensely tomato-ey (it’s my blog so I can make up any words I feel like.) The long roasting concentrates a whole tomato’s worth of flavor into the delightfully shriveled, slightly gooey treat that remains at the end of 10-12 hours in the oven.
While not exactly quick, they are sublimely easy to make. All you do is preheat your oven to 200 F. While you’re waiting, wash the tomatoes.
Slice them in half (or into quarters if you’re using a rounder, fatter variety) and lay them in a single layer on parchment-covered baking sheets.
Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper (you could throw some basil, thyme or oregano into the mix, too, if you feel like it.)
Then slide the sheets in and cook them at this low temperature for 10-12 hours (or more like 8 if you’re using cherry or grape tomatoes since they’re much smaller). Check them periodically to make sure they’re not getting too dried out for your taste (and to make sure your oven is still on – ours kept turning off for some reason… Not good!)
When they’re done, let them cool down. Remove however many you plan to scarf down in the next week and put them in an airtight container with a lid.
Then freeze the rest on their sheets, pack them into glass jars or freezer bags and toss them into the freezer.
These are DIVINE atop some goat cheese on crackers or baguette, chopped in salad, added to sauces, or just eaten on their own. I think you’ll find them quite addictive…
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Here in Italy we store sun-dried pear tomatoes in mason jars. The dried tomatoes should be soaked briefly in white wine, packed tightly in the jars with a few garlic cloves and fresh basil leaves, then covered with extra virgin olive oil and stored in a cool dark place. They last at least a year and are delicious. My family no longer want to eat the bought variety; I spoil them, the brats!
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