WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
If you’ve never roasted tomatoes, you should. It’s a largely hands-off technique that yields the ultimate condiment: bright, concentrated, savory-sweet tomatoes that are soft but retain their shape. There are so many ways to use them, including as a topping for crostini and pizza, in sandwiches, tossed into pasta, or added to a quiche or frittata. The flavorful tomato oil is great in salad dressings or drizzled over roasted meat, fish, or vegetables. For intensely flavored tomatoes, we started by cutting the tomatoes into thick slices and arranging them on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Drizzling on plenty of extra-virgin olive oil helped the tomatoes roast faster. Adding smashed garlic cloves lent flavor and fragrance to the tomatoes and oil. Avoid using tomatoes smaller than 3 inches in diameter, which have a smaller ratio of flavorful jelly to skin than larger tomatoes. To double the recipe, use two baking sheets, increase the roasting time in step 2 to 40 minutes, and rotate and switch the sheets halfway through baking. In step 3, increase the roasting time to 1½ to 2½ hours.
MAKES: about 1½ cups
TOTAL TIME: 2 hours 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 pounds large tomatoes, cored, bottom ⅛ inch trimmed, and sliced ¾ inch thick
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- Kosher salt and pepper
- ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
INSTRUCTION:
- PREPARE THE TOMATOES
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
- Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Arrange tomatoes in even layer on prepared sheet, with larger slices around edge and smaller slices in center.
- Place garlic cloves on tomatoes.
- Sprinkle with oregano and ¼ teaspoon salt and season with pepper.
- Drizzle oil evenly over tomatoes.
- ROAST THE TOMATOES
- Roast for 30 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through roasting.
- Remove sheet from oven.
- Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and prop open door with wooden spoon to cool oven.
- Using thin spatula, flip tomatoes.
- CONTINUE ROASTING
- Return tomatoes to oven and cook until spotty brown, skins are blistered, and tomatoes have collapsed to ¼ to ½ inch thick, 1 to 2 hours.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely, about 30 minutes.
- Discard garlic and serve.
- (Tomatoes and oil can be refrigerated in airtight container for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 2 months.)
