Roasted Tomatoes

Hello foodies,

I am deep in the grips of an awful head cold.  Most of the last 36 hours I have been curled up, feeling sorry for myself.  But today, I had to acknowledge one universal truth: ripe tomatoes wait for no woman.

All of my earlier angst about tomatoes not ripening seems to have been wasted.  I have ripe tomatoes - all that I can handle.  I am now worrying I won't have enough green ones left to be worth attempting to make and can relish.  Looking at the 5 little beauties on my counter today, I knew I had to do something with them.  Sure, I could make yet another caprese salad, but where is the fun in that?  And a caprese salad wouldn't take care of 5 tomatoes.  I needed something that would solve the immediate problem of lunch, and the longer term problem of using 5 tomatoes.  My solution:  roasting.

Roasting carmelizes the sugars and intensifies and concentrates that sweet acidity that make tomatoes such a jewel of a fruit.  Roasting extends the life of the tomato, giving you more time to enjoy your garden bounty.  Roast tomatoes keep about a week in the fridge (and unlike fresh tomatoes, the fridge doesn't ruin their texture and flavour), or they can be frozen.  They are great in sandwiches - intense tomato flavour without the bread getting soggy.  A simple pasta served with olive oil, garlic, and a few sliced roasted tomatoes is a very satisfying meal.  A roasted tomato soup has a deeper, more intense flavour.  Etc.  Etc.

Roasting tomatoes isn't hard - prep time, 10 min, cook time, about an hour. 

• Halve (or quarter, if larger) as many tomatoes as you'd like to roast, and remove seeds.
• In a bowl, combine finely chopped garlic, basil, and oregano (or whatever herbs and spices you particularly like with your tomatoes), pepper, and a couple of tbsp of olive oil.
• Toss the tomatoes in the olive oil and spread on a baking sheet.
• Lightly sprinkle with salt.

• Place in the oven.  I roasted them for approximately 1 hr at 350.  You can do a shorter time at a higher temperature (but watch to make sure they don't burn), or a lower temp for longer.
• They're done when they're shrunken and a little shrivelled, and the garlic has softened and sweetened. 

Thanks to all the people who have recently taken an interest in my blog - I hope you keep coming back!  For updates and observations, follow me on twitter:  @culinarykira