Eat: Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Home made slow roasted tomatoes! Now that the warm air is upon us, tomatoes are once again plentiful and cheap. I was reminded of this Smitten Kitchen recipe when a recent GOOP newsletter came out with a similar suggestion.

It is so easy and amazingly delicious. Not to mention, cooked tomatoes help your body absorb the wonderful antioxidant, lycopene.

Ingredients:

• tomatoes (roma, cherry, or smaller vine-ripened tomatoes)
  
• olive oil
  
• (optional) garlic
• (optional) thyme and/or rosemary

Process

1. Preheat oven to 225º (small, cherry tomato halves) - 275º (larger, vine-ripened tomato quarters) depending on size of tomato used
   
2. If using full sized vine-ripened tomatoes as I did in the image above, quarter them. Anything smaller, cut in half
3. Arrange on baking sheet with the seed side up and drizzle with olive oil
4. Throw on some spices if desired
5. Add a few cloves of unpeeled garlic
6. Bake unattended for +/- 3 hours *
   
7. Eat as is or use for other recipes
   

I personally hate sun-dried tomatoes, but these, while similar in premise, are nothing like sun-dried tomatoes. They're full of juice, bursting with subtle sweetness, and buttery soft in texture.

I'll be using any leftovers I don't eat today for a pasta sauce tomorrow.

* Note about the cook time: I too went wide eyed at the thought of having an oven on for three hours in the warm weather, but as the Smitten Kitchen explained, the temperature truly is so low that you'd never notice it.