Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

Sometimes I feel you guys should hang me by the feet from a tree and beat me with a stick like I was a piñata.
A lot of fun for you, a tad less for me.
But I won’t deny it, you would have the right to do so.
You see, I spend a lot of time on this blog telling you to use fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients yet, here I am presenting you a recipe with tomatoes - let me rephrase that - a recipe using only tomatoes, a lot of tomatoes.
Tomatoes are, by far, the most popular summer “vegetable” (although it's technically a fruit.)
The difference in taste, mealiness, and price is obvious when you compare a summer version with a winter one.
Of course you’ll see ripe tomatoes all year round in supermarkets, but there’s a very good chance that they come from South Florida (unless you live there, not local produce) or they’re picked green, halfway around the world, and ripened through artificial means.

So why a “only tomato” recipe in the middle of winter, when outside it’s freezing rain? Am I going mad?
Probably, but before you fetch the rope, tie my feet, and hoist me up onto the tree, let me make a case for this recipe — I swear, there’s actually some sense in it.
First off, me posting a recipe does not entail you have to make the recipe right away.
As a matter of fact, you can print, bookmark, save, or even pin the recipe for later use (i.e, when tomatoes will be in season.)
Secondly, this recipe call for the use of cherry or grape tomatoes and I personally think those are the best tomatoes to buy in winter — they don’t have enough flesh to detect mealiness.
Lastly, in order to make these awesome slow-roasted tomatoes you need to turn on the oven for three freekin’ hours. Granted, at very low temperature, but still, three hours.
Who wants to turn on the oven for that long in the middle of the summer? If you ask me, it (almost) borderlines insanity.
Blasting the AC with the oven on for hours. I dunno people, I’d rather doing when it’s freezing outside.

Anyways, whatever is your opinion on this, I strongly suggest you give these slow-roasted tomatoes a try.
Winter, spring, summer or fall these little bad boys are awesome all-year-round.
If you’ve never made slow-roasted tomatoes before, prepare to have your mind blown because they’ve got very little to do with the packaged sun-dried tomatoes you can buy in stores — and that in the best possible way.

They’re bursting with flavor, with the right amount of moisture on the inside, and some chewy dryness on the outside that makes them special on every level.
You can make pounds and pounds of these mini bad boys and use ‘em on anything.
Sauces, meat, fish, or salads. They elevate any dish. Maybe not ice-cream, even though I haven’t tried it yet, so I really can’t say.
Personally I like to put them in my mouth, one after the other.
That’s just the type of ignorant life I’ve led up until now, and no amount of common sense will persuade me otherwise.

Slow-Roasted Tomatoes                                                                                            Print this recipe!

Adapted from SmittenKitchen

Ingredients

Cherry or grape tomatoes
Cloves of garlic, unpeeled
Olive oil
Herbs such as thyme, rosemary, or oregano
Fine grain sea salt
Ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 225°F (105°C) and place a rack in the middle.
Halve tomatoes crosswise or lengthwise (though with cherry tomatoes it’s exactly the same thing).
Arrange halved tomatoes on a parchment-lined baking sheet along with the cloves of garlic.
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with herbs.
Season with salt and pepper, but go easy on those as the roasted tomatoes will be packed with flavor.
Bake in the oven for about three hours or until the tomatoes are shriveled and dry, but still have a little juice left inside.
Let them cool, store in a jar with some extra olive oil and keep in the fridge.

Nutrition facts

One serving (¼ cup) yields 80 calories, 7 grams of fat, 5 grams of carbs, and 1 gram of protein.