Slow-roasted tomatoes

 

Nothing compares to the taste of a fresh summer tomato. Unfortunately, tomatoes won't be in season for very much longer, and it's going to be a long wait until next year. Over this long weekend, I decided to slow-roast some tomatoes to freeze and enjoy in the colder months. Plum tomatoes have been pretty cheap at the farmers' market, and they're perfect for roasting - I'm going to do another batch next weekend if they're still available at the market. Slow-roasted tomatoes are really versatile - you can chop them up to add to pasta, eat them on toasted bread, add them to salads, you name it.

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day and is enjoying what remains of the summer!

 

Slow-roasted tomatoes

Note: I decided to keep these tomatoes plain and simple, but feel free to add garlic or herbs if you feel like it.

Plum tomatoes, as many as you can fit in your oven!

Olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 225 deg F. Halve tomatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil (you can be liberal with the oil - it will get tomato-flavored and delicious, and you can collect the excess after roasting). Arrange tomatoes skin side down on a parchment paper or silpat lined baking sheet. I was able to fit 16 tomatoes on one baking sheet. Roast tomatoes for at least 5 hours, or until they have collapsed and begun to dry out, but still have some juice inside. You can dry them out more than the ones in these photos - I needed to use the oven for something else and took them out a bit early. Let tomatoes cool. Tomatoes can be stored in the fridge with the residual roasting oil, or can be frozen.