Cherry Tomato Confit
Use your garden-fresh tomatoes before they are gone!
There’s a slight cool breeze as a gentle harbinger for the end of summer. Pencils are sharpened for children heading back to school, beach plans are winding down and the plants in our gardens will soon give up their last crops.
I plan to enjoy every last garden tomato before there are sadly no more.
Juicy, meaty tomatoes are perfect right from the vine, but sometimes we can be at a loss of how to use a large crop of ripened fruit before it spoils. Some people preserve and can their garden goods, which is an afternoon project in and of itself. Others just chop and freeze their creations.
I have no problem using tomatoes quickly.
There are so many ways to prepare tomatoes. Tomato pie is a treat. Caprese salad with fresh mozzarella, fresh basil leaves and a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette is a favorite. I also love wonderful soft buttermilk bread slathered with Duke’s and topped with thick, juicy, salt-and-peppered slices.
Other great ways to use them is to make a bruschetta topping for crisp crostini, a quick marinara for pasta, a fresh tomato basil soup or a homemade salsa for a snack — all are recipes I have shared in the past.
Unlike larger tomatoes, it’s the smaller cherry varieties which are usually the sweetest. I make a tomato confit, which develops its sweet flavor in a traditional confit cooking method of a gentle slow roast bathed in olive oil and aromatics. It’s a wonderful condiment on focaccia or a baguette, atop meats or even in a sandwich.
This week, I have included my recipe for tomato confit. Enjoy!
Cherry tomato confit
Ingredients
3 lbs. ripe cherry tomatoes
10 tablespoons mild extra virgin olive oil
6 tablespoons honey
6 large garlic cloves, grated
6 teaspoons dried oregano
3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Preparation
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Cut each tomato in half and spread out evenly on a rimmed sheet pan. Set aside.
Whisk together all other ingredients. Drizzle mixture evenly over tomatoes.
Roast in oven for 1 ½ hours. Gently stir to distribute pan sauce. Serve warm or room temperature. Will keep for a week refrigerated.