Very slow roasted tomatoes

Credit: Sharon Hanna

Sharon Hanna

I generally use Campari tomatoes – about 1.5” – they are sweet and work well. You could use smallish Roma types also.

Slice as many Campari tomatoes crosswise as you can fit on a large parchment-paper covered baking sheet.

Stick one small ‘needle’ of rosemary into each tomato half. (You can substitute basil or other herbs), or mix them. I also tuck a tiny sliver of fresh garlic in to the wet/seedy part.

Grind pepper over, a few flakes of Malden or other good salt, and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 2 or 3 hours at 150F or a bit warmer – depending on your oven and how small and ‘dried’ you want them to be. You can do them quicker at a slightly higher temperature but….the longer you have them in the oven, the better your house smells. (To serve as a side veggie dish or to use on a pizza or tomato tart, roast them for an hour or so at about 325F.)

A more complicated way is to grind the herbs beforehand in a mortar and pestle or processor, adding oil and garlic – then place 1/2 tsp. atop each halved tomato.

Cheese can be added too, but towards the end only otherwise it gets overcooked. A little grating of parmesan or asiago, or goat cheese, or feta…in the last 15 minutes. Serve with flatbread from the Iranian bakeries – you can make lovely hors’deouvres by spreading squares of that bread with goat cheese, topping with the roasted tomatoes. Or, use toss them into hot pasta, or serve with eggs, or in a quiche!