Provencal Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

I am sometimes certain that I wait all year for the Giants to get back on the field, you know, the same way a kid waits for Christmas to arrive, niece C prepares for Halloween (are you going to be Elsa for the third year in a row?), and a “normal” person eagerly anticipates whatever sleek trinket Apple has coming this fall.

So you have to excuse my lack of focus — over the last four weeks all I could think about has been football and my fantasy football team.
But even in this ‘football state of mind’ the other night I was able to drag myself to the farmers' market at, like, 6pm and discovered that they had a ton of discounts.
I scored two pounds of organic heirloom cherry tomatoes for about 4 bucks and a bunch of other stuff for like $10 all together. I was super stoked about it.

The next morning (i.e., yesterday) I woke up and had no idea what to do with all that tomato awesomeness — the only thing I could think about was football, football, FOOTBALL!
So I cut the little devils in half, sprinkled a good amount of Herbes de Provence on top, drizzled em with olive oil, and popped em in the oven.
After a lil over three hours the most delicious Provencal Slow-Roasted Tomatoes appeared in front of me.
Let’s call it tomato candy.
That’s more or less what they are. Almost caramelized but still savory and with that certain French je ne sais quoi — if you know what I mean.
They have just the right level of moisture, dry on the outside with some juiciness left.
Taking the pictures of these little devils wasn’t easy. They smelled unholy-level good.

If you’re unfamiliar with Herbes de Provence, it’s a mixture of dried herbs typical of the Provence region of southeast France. It typically contains savory, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and sometimes even lavender.
Herbes de Provence has an awesome flavor that is superb on chicken, fish, pork, and veggies. Tomatoes and Herbes de Provence is a marriage made in heaven. It’s like football and the Giants, there’s no one without the other.

Provencal Slow-Roasted Tomatoes                                                                                                Print this recipe!

Ingredients

1 ½ lbs / 680 gr cherry tomatoes or other small tomatoes on the vine
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons Herbes de Provence*
1 teaspoon fine grain salt
Freshly ground black pepper

*Herbes de Provence can be found at specialty foods stores and in the spice section of most supermarkets.

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.