Some of you might’ve seen my Instagram snaps of the dinner I made for Joe and I last week on Valentine’s Day. This pic of the tomatoes I was slow roasting to go with our chicken got a lot of questions and comments, so I thought I’d share exactly how to do it, and why I love these tomatoes in particular.
Make no mistake — tomatoes are one of my favorite things to eat, raw, in sauce, or otherwise, but these oven roasted ones are simply divine. First of all, they go with everything. Really, everything. Put them in salads, add them to soup, deck out a sandwich with them, line an antipasto platter, serve them as a side to meat or seafood, mix them up with pasta. The options are truly endless. Second of all, they’re so easy to make. You just need to have a few hours of time to let them do their thing in the oven. And third, you can use basically any variety of tomato you want — vine, the little Campari ones, romas or plums.
Once you slow roast these for a few hours, the flavor is out of control good. Super concentrated tomato-y, and unbelievably sweet. The tomatoes also get so soft you can smear them around; you could even puree these and add to your basic marinara to amp it up a bit, or blend them in with regular hummus to flavor it. Like I said, the options are really endless! Here’s how to make it (good news — there’s really no set recipe!):
The main key with these tomatoes is to give them a bit of time in the oven. I’ve made these on weeknights when I’ve been pressed for time and roasted them at a higher temp for a shorter amount of time, and while it works and they’re still good, it’s nothing like slow roasting, which really concentrates the flavor.
SLOW ROASTED TOMATOES
6 vine tomatoes or roma tomatoes (or whatever small to medium tomato you can find)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
Other seasoning ideas: balsamic vinegar, white wine, lemon, crushed red pepper flakes, fresh herbs (like thyme or basil), dried herbs (like herbes d’Provence), garlic powder, freshly chopped garlic, minced shallot.
Preheat your oven to 250ºF. Cut the tomatoes in half and with a spoon, gently remove the seeds but not too much of the core. Place the tomatoes cut side up on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil (there’s no exact amount here, just make sure each tomato has a little bit of oil gathered in the crevices), and season well with salt and pepper. If you’re using other seasonings, sprinkle on as much as you like (last Thursday for Valentine’s, I used a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, crushed red pepper flakes, herbes d’Provence, and a little sprinkle of garlic powder — highly recommended. They tasted awesome!).
Place the tomatoes in the oven and roast for 3 to 4 hours, until they’ve reduced in size and they smell very concentrated (your whole house will smell delicious!). Serve however you’d like, or chill for later use. These should last you maybe 4-5 days, no problem.
These look scrumptious! (And your Vday dinner looked amazing!) Can’t wait to try them out!
X Kenzie
http://www.CaveGirlintheCity.com
Um these look divine! Must try this recipe! I just love how sweet slow roasted tomatoes get.
Yum! Will definitely be trying these out! Thanks for sharing :)
Ah I too love tomatoes! I could eat one every day. Especially in the summer, from the farmers markets. Thanks for this, I will be making them :)
everytime you do a food post, i wish i was your husband. TMI?
every (space) time. #whoops
Looks delicious! Definitely want to try this out this weekend before my tomatoes go bad.
xoxo
Crystal’s Beauty Corner
i miss west coast tomatoes. a lot. more than you know.
The good news is even bland winter tomatoes from anywhere
can be made to taste, really, really good with this!
those look awesome! i do love tomatoes.
kw, ladies in navy
Um, YUM! Definitely trying this tonight–I have some tomatoes just waiting to be roasted.
Oh my gosh.. those look so good! Drooling at my desk now..
Kayla
http://www.lovelucygirl.com
I know what I am doing on Sunday.
Wow….these look awesome! Perfect to have during the work week!
Yeah this is perfect!! I’m currently trying to create a menu for my boyfriend and I of dinner options and this would be perfect!! Thanks for sharing!!
Drool. Though I don’t know how I would fight the inevitable hunger I would have for four hours while this make the house smell divine.
*makes. Doh.
These look divine!
This looks delicious, Victoria! I still want to take some cooking classes from you :) Even though I missed Vday, I would love to surprise T with a meal. He would be shocked!
xx Julia
These look so amazing! My dad keeps trumpeting the fantastic-ness of slow-roasted tomatoes on homemade pizza – I think I’ve found my recipe!
Natalie
Name’s Not Ashley
Looks so delicious !
xo Meg
http://meghansilva.blogspot.com
It’s time for lunch. Looks absolutely delicious!
ohmygosh.. literally wiping away the drool. looks amazing victoria! x
& Pretty Things
It’s amazing how sweet they get when they are slow roasted!
I dislike tomatoes alot… except for slow roasted it turns out! I tried one the other day at the Berkeley farmer’s market and loved it. I’m so glad you posted this recipe, so now I can try make my own.
Just made these tonight! I stuck with just salt and pepper, which was pretty good. I think next time I’d go with something more. Maybe some garlic salt or balsamic vinegar. But they were delicious! And I even have leftovers to mix with pasta for lunch tomorrow. Thanks for the inspiration!