Roasted Tomatoes

I love tomatoes. I love them raw, stewed, fried and one of my favorite ways is roasted. So simple to do and endless ways to use them. It's a great way to use tomatoes that are beginning to get a little too soft for slicing on a sandwich or cutting for a salad. Their flavor is intensified after roasting somewhat like a sun dried tomato. Roasting however doesn't give you a "dried" tomato it gives you a smooth luscious flavorful almost spread like consistency.

How do you use roasted tomatoes? Great question. The way I use them most often is spread on some kind of bread. I like the way it mingles with mayo on a sandwich. On an English muffin topped with a poached egg makes my mouth water. Mix it into cooked pasta. Mash it into a smooth paste and use it as the best dipping sauce for fries you've ever had. Stir it into a vegetable dip to take it to a higher level. Be creative and brave and try it with just about anything except chocolate. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't taste good with chocolate.

Here's what you'll need:

• Tomatoes, how many is up to you
• Olive oil, amount will vary depending on how many tomatoes
• Salt, I like kosher but any will do
• Garlic cloves, if you have them
• Rosemary sprig, if you have it but you know it grows everywhere right? Steal it from the neighbors yard. A sprig in my mind is about 4 inches long.
• Dish to roast in. Big enough to hold tomatoes in single layer without too much extra space. Could be glass could be ceramic.
• Oven set at 325.

This is as easy or complicated as you like. Turn oven on. Cut tomatoes in half across their middles, so there is a top and bottom half. Squeeze or scrape out seeds if you like. I DON'T. You can cut out that stem part if you like. I DON'T. Take skin off garlic cloves if you are using them. (Let's just say you were using 10 tomatoes. I would probably use 4 garlic cloves but you don't have to use any) Put the tomatoes and garlic in your dish cut side up. Sprinkle with salt. Not too much but it does need some. Now drizzle olive oil over. How much? Maybe 1/2 teaspoon for each tomato half? You can't get too much. With your hands toss the tomatoes around until the whole thing is well oiled. Now turn all the tomatoes cut side down. Work in the rosemary turning it a couple times to coat with oil. Slide the whole thing into your oven and come back in 1 hour. My oven cooks unevenly so I have to rotate the pan at the one hour mark. In another hour turn the oven off. If your tomatoes look dark remove the pan and allow to cool. I leave mine in the oven with it off for a while. If you do this try not to forget about them like I have. When cool enough to handle but still warm I remove the skins that easily come off and forget the others. Throw the rosemary away. This is when I remove the stem part if it's big enough to get my attention or if it bugs you. I just eat them.

 

Now try not to just eat all this goodness without a purpose. I store them in a glass jar and add a little more olive oil on top and put in the fridge. The oil will solidify some but it quickly melts back to liquid at room temp. If for some reason you haven't eaten all this yumminess in a week I'd check to make sure there is no mold. No mold eat. Mold, find a home schooler who needs a science experiment.

 

I'd love to know if you make these and then how you ate them. Now go to Costco and buy tomatoes to roast like I am today.