Slow Roasted Tomatoes

I have a bumper crop of tomatoes this year.  I have made "sun dried" tomatoes in the oven before but it was years ago.  My mom told me about them.  Basically you remove the green stem end with your fingers and cut small tomatoes like cherry or small plums in half.  Season as you wish, and roast cut side down  in a very slow oven.  

The tomatoes get tossed with some olive oil and then whatever you wish including basil, rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper etc.  Here I am below pulling the pine like needles off the garden rosemary.  Was a hot day as you can see as I was working in my bathing suit.  The tomatoes below are being dressed with olive oil, pepper and fresh Genovese basil.  I did another batch with the rosemary.

Mine took 6 hours at 225'F in my propane oven.  I find propane a bit slower than gas.  I can guess electric ovens are faster but I don't have one!

The tomatoes below are some of my larger beefsteak tomatoes that I needed to get put away before they went bad.

As with most techniques you have options.  Some people remove the seeds and wet pulp and then roast.  Some people peel off the skin.  I don't do either as I want the volume and find by the time the tomatoes are pureed or use in a sauce you can't tell.  The skins cook down and totally disappear if you puree with an immersion blender.  The skin of the fruit provides fibre and also many nutrients on vegetables and fruits are just under the skin.  Hope you try this simple method.  Let me know how it goes!

I have some cherry tomatoes in the food dehydrator too and I will do a separate post on how well they turn out.  Happy harvest!

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that you need to freeze your little bags of oven roasted tomatoes if you aren't going to eat them right away.  Eating them right away is what may happen as they are so sweet and delicious.  Restrain yourself and put some in little bags for the freezer so you can relive this moment during the winter months!