Roasted Plum Tomatoes
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 2 hours | Total Time: 2 – 3 hours | Serves: 6
So, what do you do with the abundance of the last tomatoes of the season? I usually make a marinara and freeze, but today, I wanted to get my hands on some nice, sweet tomatoes in the beginning of fall before the ones in the store are not as flavorful as during the summer and early fall.
The usual veggies get a good roasting at my house… zucchini, squash, onions, broccoli, etc., but I wanted to focus on these beauties. I used a very good quality extra-virgin olive oil from Abingdon Olive Oil Company. Check out their website if you’re interested in excellent oils and vinegars.
I strongly suggest you use a very sharp knife for cutting, slicing, and coring. Tomatoes need a sharp blade to make this job go quicker; it’s easier than fighting with the skin of the tomatoes. (Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about!
In past roasting of tomatoes, I have tossed the halved/slices in the olive oil, chopped fresh garlic, kosher salt, and freshly cracked black pepper. About 1/3 of the halves received a sprinkling of fresh basil from our garden and some others a few pieces of a serrano chile, also from our garden. Yumm. The recipe below lists these ingredients as optional.
I liked the slow-roasting method for most of tomatoes (250 degrees F.), but this recipe cooks them at a higher temperature for a shorter amount of time, making my process a little more convenient today.
Enjoy!
Roasted Plum Tomatoes
Equipment
- Large sheet pan
- Very sharp knife
Ingredients
- 15 plum tomatoes, cored and cut into halves or thirds if tomatoes are large
- 1 - 2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, or to taste
- 1 - 2 tablespoons excellent-quality extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 - 2 tablespoons fresh garlic, finely minced or pushed through a garlic press, optional
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped, optional
- 1 tablespoon fresh hot chile pepper, finely chopped, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cover a large cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper for easier clean up.
- Place the tomato halves or slices into a large bowl.
- Add salt, black pepper, oil, and any optional ingredients. (If you would like, just sprinkle any optional ingredients over a few tomatoes instead of blending with the whole batch.)
- Place your tomatoes on the cookie sheet, cut side up.
- If you have decided to add the optional ingredients, this is the time to sprinkle them. I chose to do this because I only wanted a few with the heat from a hot chile pepper.
- Place the pan in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Check for doneness. If you like how the tomatoes look, you can remove from the oven. If you’d like less moisture and a little more caramelizing in your tomatoes, place the pan back into the oven for another 30 minutes to an hour.
- Remove the tomatoes from the oven and use while still warm, or cool and store in refrigerator for 1 week.
- See “Notes” for delicious ways to use your tomatoes.
Notes
- Simply as a side to accompany a protein.
- Serve at room temperature on a charcuterie board.
- Serve over pasta with a drizzle of more oil and fresh basil. Check out recipe here.
- Serve over pasta with a simple marinara.
- Use as a topping over pizza with dollops of ricotta cheese.
- Use as pizza toppings.
- Serve as a substitute of fresh tomato slices in a Caprese Salad.
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