Roasted Tomatoes
When you make preparing ingredients — like roasting tomatoes — part of your meal plan, you set yourself up to make quick and easy meals. Roasting tomatoes is a simple technique that creates a rich, tangy-sweet flavor. Roasted tomatoes are a delicious, versatile ingredient you can use in pasta dishes, pizza, sandwiches, salads, and sides.
In this recipe idea, we'll roast tomatoes with just a few basic ingredients: olive oil, garlic, sea salt, and pepper. You’ll also find some variations after the recipe.
Ingredients
Fresh tomatoes — cherry, grape, Roma, or on-the-vine — any kind will do
Olive oil
Sea salt
Optional:
- Organic raw sugar
- Fresh basil or thyme
- Garlic
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Optional: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
Place the tomatoes on the baking sheet.
- If using cherry or grape tomatoes, leave them whole.
- If using a larger variety of tomatoes, core them and cut them in half or quarters — depending on the size and your preference. Place them cut side down on the baking sheet.
Drizzle with olive oil — just enough to give them a thin coating.
Optional:
- Add garlic or herbs
- Sprinkle with sea salt and a tiny bit of sugar. I estimate I use about a half teaspoon of sugar for one pound of tomatoes. You can skip the sugar, but with types or flavors of tomatoes, they can turn out to be a bit too tart after cooking. Adding a small pinch of sugar cuts the acidity and creates a rich, caramelized flavor.
Season the tomatoes liberally with sea salt and pepper.
Toss the tomatoes to coat them with olive oil, salt, and sugar. I use my hands to toss them while they are on the cookie sheet.
Roast in the oven for 1- to 1¼ hours, until the tomatoes are very soft and slightly browned on top.
Store them in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Roasting tomatoes with garlic and herbs
Roasting cherry tomatoes with garlic
Notes:
This is a fabulous ingredient to cook while you are at home on the weekend. The tomatoes take less than 10 minutes to prepare, and the oven does all the work while you do something else. Sometimes, I roast them at a lower temp — at 250° for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Slow-roasting tomatoes intensify the flavor a bit more, and it is convenient to have them roasting when you are home doing something else.
Serving Ideas:
Serve roasted tomatoes as a first course, apéritif, in salads, on bruschettas or homemade pizza, as a side or garnish, in pasta dishes — or purée them to make a roasted tomato pasta sauce!
First course with warm, crusty bread
Wish fresh basil for an apéritif or appetizer — serve with toothpicks
On puff pastry with goat cheese and green salad with vinaigrette — plus a few black cured olives
As a side with an omelette baveuse
Tossed with pasta and Parmesan
Find it online: https://returntothetable.com/roasted-tomatoes/