Eat Well: Tomatoes a la roast

The following post was written by my mom, WWW. Thanks mom!

It’s August and that means tomato explosion time. Even though my beautiful plants have been attacked by nematodes (UGH!! THESE ARE NASTY LITTLE BEASTS!), I still have a huge harvest. Luckily the kids were here for a week to help eat these babies. Revi and Bo love tomatoes, as does Rebecca, but even with the extra mouths in the house, we still couldn’t make a dent in the seemingly endless supply.

By now you know how much I love to roast vegetables, so I decided to try my hand at roasting tomatoes.

Most roasted tomato recipes call for seeded Roma tomatoes. Barefoot Contessa has a wonderful recipe but I didn’t grow Romas and I don’t like seeding tomatoes—it seems like such a waste—so I went with David Lebovitz’s easy tomato roasting method which is right up my alley. (However, if you like a drier roasted tomato, go ahead and seed them.) I can’t even begin to describe how delicious these are. Roasting vegetables, as I have often said, intensifies flavor so roasted tomatoes are a taste bud sensation. Even a homely store bought tomato transforms into a thing of beauty by roasting it. We loved these so much that I made four batches in three days. We topped grits and eggs with them and layered them on top of toast. (Spread the toast with hummus or soft cheese first for a wonderful lunch or snack.) They are amazing as a pizza topping, added to quiche or frittatas, cooked in soups, mixed with quinoa or stuffed into a baked potato. Roasted tomatoes have a similar flavor to sun dried tomatoes and can replace them in recipes.

Roast the tomatoes with any fresh herb—rosemary, thyme, marjoram, oregano, or basil work well. I used rosemary since I have a lot of it in my garden. It holds up well after roasting and infuses the tomatoes with its flavor.

You can freeze the tomatoes for up to 6 months so roasting them is a great way to preserve your summer harvest. If you don’t grow your own tomatoes, take advantage of the cheap summer prices at the market and you will be enjoying great tomatoes all winter long.

Roasted Tomatoes 
(inspired by David Lebovitz)

3 Tbsp good quality olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced
8 sprigs rosemary (or other fresh herbs such as thyme, marjoram, oregano, or basil salt and pepper to taste
2 lbs small or medium sized tomatoes (about)

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Pour oil in a large roasting pan. (Don’t use aluminum as it reacts with the tomatoes.)
3. Add sliced garlic, salt and pepper, and rosemary or other herbs.
4.  Remove stems from tomatoes and cut in half horizontally.
5. Coat the tomatoes in the oil, and place cut side down in pan. (Don’t crowd the tomatoes. Use two pans if needed.)
6.  Roast at 325 for two hours or until the tomatoes are completely soft and wrinkly. Store in refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 6 months!

Here are a few of my favorite ways to eat them:

with grits

with hummus on toast
with poached egg
with fried egg
with goat cheese 

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For more tomato recipes go here and here and here and here!  Enjoy!

Love, 

WWW