Roasted Tomatoes

Step 2 Roast tomatoes

Put your tomatoes in a 300F oven and wander off for a bit.

Depending on the thickness of your slices and the amount of water in the tomatoes, time will vary. You can follow the smell; there will be a gorgeous roasty aroma as the tomatoes cook.  I usually cook my (very watery heirloom) tomatoes for 2-3 hours.

When the tomatoes (and garlic) look like they've started to brown or dry out on the top and the liquid in the pan has begun to thicken slightly, turn the oven off and leave the tomatoes to slowly equilibrate. If you're worried about overcooking them you can remove the pan and let it cool on the counter, but the slower cooling process makes for extra-tasty flavor.

Comments

[Lucky2010]

Thanks for the instructions! I grow many heirlooms and some were stricken by late blight :( Mostly the speckled romas. However, I do still harvest some lovely and tasty fruit. I tried this tonight with a Great White, some Speckled Romas, cute little Green Grapes (which are yellow) and a Brandywine. Because of the steam I had to suck up some juice during cooking with a baster. It was the best tablespoon of liquid I've ever had. I am also roasting yellow stuffing tomatoes, because raw they have little flavor. It's the first year I've grown them and while they're cool looking, productive and fun to grow, they aren't that tasty. It's amazing how sweet they taste after a little roasting. If you have any other tips about what to do with these besides stuffing and roasting, I'd love to read them.
http://www.theomnivoressolution.com/the_omnivores_solution/2007/08/the-case-of-the.html

[canida]

Sorry to hear about the blight! That's disappointing.

I've never seen the stuffing tomatoes before. My understanding is that most of the flavor comes from the gooey innards surrounding the seeds, so that would explain their relative lack of tastiness until roasted. How do they taste when sun-dried?

Also, great blog!

[Lucky2010]

I should have specified - the omnivore's solution blog isn't mine :-)

I'm gonna have to get on a garden forum and get ideas about rethinking next year's garden. Blight stays in the soil.

But anyway, they stuffing tomatoes I sliced and filled in the spaces with Green Grape (they're actually yellow) tomatoes and roasted slow at 250 degrees F. They looked cool and came out good.

[TJXANMOM]

How long can they be stored for?

[canida]

I store them frozen, but you can easily get a week or two in the refrigerator. More if you put a layer of oil on top to seal the tomatoes away from air.

[arseny]

Any estimates on time? 20-30 minutes?

[canida]

I've been using extremely watery heirloom tomatoes and cutting them about an inch thick, which means something like an hour or two. It varies insanely since it's all about driving off the water; your specific tomatoes will determine the time. I put them on when I'll be home for an hour, then turn them off if I have to leave, then check and turn them back on again if necessary. I've even left them to cool overnight. They're very forgiving so long as you don't completely burn them. Plum tomatoes from the grocery in winter should be around 30 minutes, but I don't bother to do them anymore- now we use frozen bags of the heirloom tomatoes. We're about half-way through last summer's store, and it's been awesome. Eric says: "Now that I know how good they taste in February I'll help prep them next summer!"