Slow Roasted Tomato Slices

I’ve finally found a vendor at my local farmer’s market that has tomatoes that taste like old-fashioned tomatoes. You remember – tomatoes that smell great, are juicy and flavorful without being too acidic. These were the kind of tomatoes that we had in Italy, and I bemoaned the fact that they were no longer available in this country. They’re delicious on their own or paired with fruity olive oil and mozzarella. My husband, however, doesn’t really like tomatoes – especially juicy ones with lots of seeds. Slow roasting tomatoes, especially really good tomatoes, might seem like a waste, but roasting them brings out even more of the sweetness and is especially nice for those who like the flavor, but not the texture of regular tomatoes. They’re like sundried tomatoes, but more fleshy and not oily. You can use oven roasted tomatoes in salads, sandwiches, with couscous and other grains, and any time you might use sundried tomatoes. My next post will be a stuffed zucchini using these oven roasted tomatoes.

3-4 ripe tomatoes, washed
1 tablespoon olive oil (you’ll use much less, but the pastry brush will soak up the oil)
salt
fresh herbs of choice (basil, thyme, lavender, etc)

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking pan with non-stick foil (sometimes called grilling foil)

Cut the tomatoes into 1-inch wedges – maybe 8 for large tomatoes and less for smaller ones. Using a small paring knife, cut out the seeds and flesh so that you are left with a tomato wedge that is a scant 1/8-inch thick. If there is a lot of flesh once the seeds are discarded, you can roast this flesh, as well (it depends on the variety and size of tomato).

Set the wedges on the foil, fleshy side up.

Brush the fleshy side lightly with the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and herbs. Bake for about 2 hours until the slices are browning, but are not completely dried out.

You can see whether you like them less done, as in the top picture, or more done, as in the second.

Let the slices cool and then place them in a storage container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.