It's time for those Addictive Slow Roasted Tomatoes again!

Kalyn's Kithen, a mighty and grand food blog, provided a magic recipe for slow roasted tomatoes. Last year I "put up" about a bushel of plum tomatoes this way, and it was not enough to get through the winter. These are addictive. A fellow-blogger called them "Tomato Crack". Here is a picture that I lifted from her site:



Basically, you cut plum tomatoes in half, roll 'em in a bit of olive oil and some herbs and slow cook them at 200 degrees for 8-10 hours. They taste like concentrated summer. I flat-freeze them in ziplocks and use them in soups, stews, on meat, in rice, over pasta, on toast, with goat cheese on crackers --- in eggs ...on anything.

I've linked above to her recipe, but here is how I adapted it. Feel free to add your own inspiration. Kalyn adapted them from Alana, and I adapted them from Kalyn. I tried regular tomatoes and they were too watery. I tried grape and cherry tomatoes and they just didn't have enough flesh. Plum (Roma) tomatoes are best. I've inserted my comments into her (edited) text below.

20 Roma type tomatoes (same size tomatoes are best)
2 T olive oil, plus a little to oil the pan if you don't have a mister. I like extra virgin oil.
2 T dried basil
1 T dried oregano
1 T dried majoram
(I have also added things like thyme, sage, garlic, red pepper flakes - experiment with different combinations.)

Preheat oven to 200 F (8-10 hours roasting time.) Ovens differ here -- just don't burn them. Start checking at about 7 hours.

Wash tomatoes, dry, and cut each tomato in half lengthwise. (Kaylyn leaves the stem spot in one piece to grab when peeling the tomatoes later. I just left the skins on).

Put tomatoes in a bowl and toss with olive oil and herbs.

Then, Kalyn says, Spray cookie sheet with olive oil mister (or brush very lightly with oil). Arrange tomatoes cut-side down on cookie sheet.

After about 7 hours, start checking tomatoes. They're done when skins puff up and tomatoes are reduced in size by at least half. It's a personal preference as to how dried you like them, but both Kalyn and I prefer to cook until they look fairly dense, but are still a tiny bit juicy.

So, thanks to this largely stolen column from Kalyn's Kitchen, you too can enjoy how amazingly yummy these are. Don't plan on having your first tray make it to the freezer!