Slow

[Magpie Ima]

I have been reading about slow roasted tomatoes for years and I don't know why it took me so long to jump on the train with all the cool kids, but I am here now! Let me tell you, these things are a revelation. Everything good about tomatoes is magnified in the slow roasting approach, turning a perfectly serviceable Roma into a thing of brilliance. Think of the depth of flavor in a good quality tomato paste, but sweeter, and with the added fragrance of your favorite olive oil and a little magic thrown in. I'm told you can use these with pasta, salads, eggs, and as appetizers but so far I find that eating them as is works pretty well, too.

If you start googling recipes, you'll find that the directions are all over the map. Use cherry tomatoes. No--paste tomatoes. Place skin side up. No--skin side down. Roast for anywhere from 3 to 12 hours at temperatures ranging from 175 to 300 degrees. Herbs and garlic cloves are essential for seasoning. Or you can skip those. My guess is that all of these approaches work just fine.

What I did was drizzle two sheet pans with a lovely, fragrant olive oil and then slice a whole bunch of Roma tomatoes lengthwise, cutting out the little stem thingy as I went along. I rubbed the cut side of each tomato half in the olive oil, flipped it over, and lined it up with all the others until the pan was full. I gave each pan a light sprinkle of kosher salt and popped them in the oven at 175 degrees, and came back 12 hours later. Once cool, I peeled the skins off each tomato half and then popped them into freezer bags to save for winter although I confess I ate more than a few during that process.


I hope I've convinced you that you need to go make these immediately. As in, RIGHT NOW. Seriously. GO. And then come back and tell me all about it.

[Elaine Stone Vaughan]

Thanks for the post - I'm on my way to the Sunday Farmer's Market and will stock up on cherry - no, Roma tomatoes, right?

[Magpie Ima]

Hi Elaine--I would definitely go for Romas over cherries if you have a choice.

[tina marie]

I was givena 1 pound bag of dried tomatoes and found a recipe for them in which you rehydrate them for about ten minutes in a half water, half vinegar solution and then dry them off. Then what? Well, that was the part I had trouble finding info on, so I layered them with sliced garlic, salt, thyme leaves and olive oil and let them sit overnight. Let me say they are mighty tasty on a grilled slice of baguette!! What do you make with your dried tomatoes?

[Elaine Stone Vaughan]

Dear Slow, The tomatoes were SO delicious from your recipe - I thought, great! I can freeze them and not have to worry about figuring out how to can them - but my daughter eats up every batch I've made - which is good, right?

[marie bittner]

This sounds so good and my tomatoes in the yard are just  about ready this sounds like less work then canning them  thank you

[Christene]

I did the same sorta but instead of drizzling with olive oil I put them in olive oil to store so I will have my tomatoes for pizza's omelets and other things and then a great cooking oil or dipping oil