recipe | slow roasted tomatoes

hip-hip-horray!... It is here! Tomato season is officially here and I'm at a loss for words to say how excited I am to have tomatoes to harvest this summer. I might have over compensated this year for my lack of tomatoes last summer. Sixty something plants may be a little overkill, but I can never limit the varieties that I want to grow. I'm also not good at thinning seedlings. Rather I separate each seedling to its own pot so none have to die. The result of course if sixty something tomato plants!

The cherries were the first to get the season started. The Sun Golds and Super Sweet 100s are averaging a little over a pound of cherries a day. I remember the first time I ever grew Super Sweet 100s. First of all, I was stunned by how incredibly tall they grow. I expected over five feet, but these plants were average seven feet no problem. Then the fruit. My God, the astounding amount of little red orbs this vine produced was mind boggling. This year is no different. I'm also happy to have the Sun Golds grace our gardens for a third year in a row. They are by far the sweetest cherries I've ever grown.

I grow a lot of plum tomatoes for my sauce, so I was excited to add Juliet to the mix this year. Just as the Heinz and Roma are starting to slightly blush, the Juliets are ripe and ready for picking. The are pretty small, like an oversized grape tomato. But the are solid, meaty plums with little seed.

The timing of the tomatoes couldn't be better. Our garlic harvest has just finished curing and our basil is more lush than ever.

I have to confess that my recipe postings have been slim to none this summer and I apologize. For one thing, I rarely use my oven in the summer. But the main reason is that I do a lot of non-recipes. What does that mean? It means simply that I go out into the garden and grab whatever is ready and create a stream-of-consciousness meal out of it. Like the other day when I mixed green beans, broccoli, onions, peppers, basil and garlic and served it on a bed of quinoa. The only cooking part was really a quick sauté in extra virgin olive oil. I pretty much do this all summer long.

I woke up this morning to this first wink of the autumn that is just around the corner. It dipped down to 40º last night, so this morning was a bit nip when I strolled outside to water the garden. It just took a few breaths of that crisp, cold air and I was in the kitchen turning on that stove to slow roast some cherry and plum tomatoes. It got me all excited to think of fall. I can't wait to get back into my routine of baking breads and slow cooking roasts and stews.

If you are looking to save a little of that summer tomato freshness for the colder days ahead, I highly recommend roasting up a bunch of tomatoes and storing in the freezer for future recipes. I toss them into chilies, sauces, pizzas, sandwiches, you name it. The concentrate flavor produced from roasting packs each bite with a bright tomato punch.

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

cherry or plum tomatoes, sliced into halves

garlic, minced

thyme, minced

oregano, chopped

extra virgin olive oil

sea salt

cracked pepper

I didn't include amounts for each ingredient because it really is up to your personal taste. I tend to go heavy on garlic, because, well, it's garlic.

Preheat oven to 300º. Lightly grease a shallow baking pan. Arrange the tomatoes face up in a single layer. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil across the top. Sprinkle the herbs, salt, and pepper and roast for 2 hours. You may need to sprinkle on a little more olive oil around an hour into the cooking.

If you would like to freeze for later use, arrange the tomatoes in layers in a freezer-safe container and drizzle an additional bit of extra virgin olive oil over the top. Freeze and use within six months.