Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

Oven-Ready

I feel impatient for tomato season, even though it’s right around the corner. Heirloom tomatoes in late summer from the farmer’s market have me ruined, and I don’t often buy them out of season. A few weeks ago I caved, and bought some on the vine Campari tomatoes. That’s another conversation, the strange marketing genius of selling tomatoes still attached to its vine. Anyway, they weren’t very good, and began to look forlorn and squishy, abandoned and unappreciated. With some wooing – an olive oil bath, gentle sea salt massage, and a long, warm, slow bake in a low oven – the tomatoes yielded. They emerged, four hours later, sticky-sweet and a little puckered. So good, in fact, that I bought some more to roast, and wasted no time in turning on my oven and giving them my full attention.

Coaxed and Roasted

Pre-heat oven to 200º. If your oven, like my oven, doesn’t go so low, simply prop door open about an inch by wedging some tongs between the door and the frame. That should keep the heat very low. Also, no point in roasting just a few tomatoes, do a pan full. Once they’re cooled, store them in the fridge. Use them where you might usually use fresh – throw them into a salad, have them as a side dish, or use to create a deep, rich sauce.

one dozen tomatoes, at least, halved

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

fresh or dried herbs, such as thyme, use what you have, optional

a few twists of black pepper, optional

Place tomato halves in a medium-sized bowl. Toss gently with olive oil and salt, and any optional ingredients. Carefully tumble tomatoes onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, and scrape any extra oil, juices and seasonings over. Slide onto the middle rack in your oven, and prop open if necessary. I roast tomatoes, depending on their size, anywhere from two hours, up to four. Check periodically. They should resemble my tomatoes in the photo above – dark red, slightly wrinkled, and syrupy with juices.