Tutorial: Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

Today we're going to talk about what to do with all of those tomatoes - you know the ones. It's already a little blustery outside, but your tomato plants are still going strong. Well, at least mine are. I heard on NPR about a month ago that most of the big-box stores sold tomato plants this year with a disease called late blight. If your plants had blight, you would know because the leaves would curl up and turn brown around the edges, and the fruit could have dark spots on the flesh. Some of the fruit won't though. Still, I would say for me, this year was a bountiful harvest for tomatoes. And boy, do I love a good garden tomato.

Last night, I slipped out the back door as I was putting toppings on our pizza and grabbed a few tomatoes. Slicing off the little green parts from the vine, I got to nibble on those while I layered the sliced tomatoes onto the pizza. There's just something so fresh about a garden tomato.

So, what are you supposed to do with all of those tomatoes? You've already made salsa (or not), and you've have your fill of salads. Well, making some oven-roasted tomatoes is a great way to store up your fresh tomato flavor for the winter, and not waste your tomatoes! When you're finished, they'll be very similar to what you buy in the store called sun-dried tomatoes. Except these aren't $7 for a small jar! (Always a bonus).

You'll need:

A bunch of garden tomatoes, any variety
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Already-minced garlic
Sheet pans covered in foil

Ok, here's how we start. Collect and wash your tomatoes. If you thought you needed a lot, this is worth it for even 5 tomatoes or so. I had about 10 I wanted to roast.

Next, cut up the tomatoes. If they are small, like a Roma, you only need to cut them in half. Any larger tomato should be cut at least into quarters. Make sure as you cut that you leave a section of skin on each piece you make.

Then, put your cut tomatoes in a bowl, and season them with salt, pepper, and a bit of olive oil. Get your hand in there and stir them all around, gently.

Next, arrange the cut tomatoes on a sheet tray with the skin side on the pan. Then, spread a little bit of minced garlic on each tomato piece. To save yourself a bunch of time from marinating garlic, you can purchase already-minced garlic from Costco for a good price.

Here's mine:

Place your sheet trays in the oven at 325 degrees for more than 2 hours. At about 2 hours, you'll want to peek in the oven and see how it's coming. The tomatoes will end up shrinking down to be almost flat, and may get black around the edges. This is totally fine - they won't taste burnt.

If you do get more black than you expect, just trim off the black parts. Also, the garlic will cook faster than the tomatoes dehydrate. At the end, you may want to pick off the pieces of garlic that have turned black, rather than leaving them on your finished oven-roasted tomatoes. Oh, and your house will smell delish! Your family members will wander in wondering when their Italian grandmother arrived.

Mine baked for about 2 hours and 45 minutes, but I could have taken them out sooner. Once you remove from the oven, let them cool. If you want, try one. Right now, just out of the oven. If you find that they are really acidic (which they will be pretty intense), you can sprinkle them very lightly with a bit of sugar.

Once they have cooled, pick them off the tray and put them in a freezer bag. Then you'll have them throughout the winter for sandwiches, pizza, salads, and anything else you can come up with.

You'll find other deliciousness at Slightly Indulgent Mondays on Amy's blog Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.