little bites of goodness

I love tomatoes...real tomatoes. The kind that you pluck off a tall green plant in your own backyard. They have a taste that is just incredible. When I try to eat what is in the grocery store...it just makes me a little sad. It seems illegal in most cases that they could be sold as tomatoes, because they sure don't taste like them.

However, I have found one thing that makes me smile during the off-season.

Slow roasted tomatoes.

Let me tell you...when you slow roast tomatoes you need to be prepared for your house to smell insanely delicious. I made this pan of tomatoes and invited my parents over for dinner. I had a couscous recipe that I was tweaking and I knew these would bring the taste up several notches. Silly me thought I would have some leftover to store in the fridge for another meal. The joke was on me. We devoured them all at one meal. Everyone just kept picking them off the pan and I had to start waving around a spatula to clear the kitchen to save some for the recipe. :) I can hardly wait to try this out with some real tomatoes. I might have to arm myself with something a little scarier than a spatula, though....

Slow Roasted Tomatoes cherry (or grape) tomatoes salt pepper fresh rosemary or thyme, optional cloves garlic, unpeeled and smashed, optional extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F. Cut the tomatoes in half and place them cut-side up on baking sheet. Sprinkle over the salt and pepper and drizzle with the olive oil. (just enough so that the tomato tops glisten) Slide the baking sheet into the oven and roast the tomatoes for about 3 hours. When they’re done, the tomatoes will be shriveled and a little dry looking, but press them gently and you’ll see that they still have some juice.

You can use them immediately in a dish or just pop them in your mouth! If you don’t need them now, take them(and the garlic and herbs) and cover them with olive oil. They will keep in the refrigerator for a week or so. However, we both know they won't last that long! They are that good. ENJOY!!