It is starting to get a little chilly here in Ottawa, and I have picked the last of my garden tomatoes. Sadly, the plants could have kept on going, but the weather won’t give them a chance. Of course, I can buy these kinds of tomatoes pretty much year round at my local grocer, but it is not the same as having home-grown produce.
The obvious choice for little tomatoes is to eat them raw in salads, but as the weather cools, so does my desire to eat salad. Yes, I know that is a little strange, but I’m a hot weather salad eater! Instead, I slow roast these beauties with garlic, shallots, chili and a lot of olive oil and they become soft and sweet and totally delicious.
You can make bruschettas with these, but they also make a simple pasta sauce (whole, crushed or blended), you can make a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich, or add them to a charcuterie board; I’m sure you could come up with many more uses for them!
Since I did not have any other herbs than chives, I added them at the end, but if you have fresh rosemary, oregano or thyme, you can mix them in with the tomatoes before they go in the oven. I used my blend of Urfa and Aleppo pepper from my garden, but feel free to use any other dried chili you have on hand.
This is one of the easiest recipes you can make, and the beauty of it is that roasting intensifies the tomato flavour, making for an amazing ingredient to have on hand. Roast a batch and you can have them in the fridge to use throughout the week.
End of Summer Roasted Mini Tomatoes
350g mini tomatoes (grape, cherry or cocktail)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, sliced
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 -1/2 tsp chili flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 Tbsp chopped chives, basil or parsley
In medium bowl, combine tomatoes, oil, shallot, garlic, chili and salt and pepper. Toss well.
Place in baking tray and roast at 400°F for 25-40 minutes, depending on the size of your tomatoes, or until soft and starting to burst. Stir halfway through the cooking process. The shallot should also be nice and soft.
Remove from oven, let them cool slightly, then add fresh herbs.
Makes about 2 cups.