It is time to preserve this year’s tomato harvest every which way possible. Freeze, can, dehydrate, make salsa, ketchup, soup – you name it, you will be glad you did come January!
My favorite way to put up tomatoes for year-round eating also happens to be the easiest: Slow Roasting! Here are some simple instructions from Gourmet Magazine, August 2009.
The recipe calls for plum tomatoes, but we use any kind of tomato – heirlooms of all colors, shapes, and sizes, plums, paste types, cherries, etc. They all cook down into delicious roasted tomato goodness, with a ridiculous amount of flavor. We pack our much-condensed roasted tomatoes into containers of various sizes and store them in the freezer, to be enjoyed all winter long.
Slow-Roasted Tomatoes
4 pounds plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
6 garlic cloves, minced
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
Preheat oven to 200°F with racks in upper and lower thirds. Put tomatoes, cut side up, in 2 large 4-sided sheet pans.
Combine garlic and oil and spoon over tomatoes. Season tomatoes with salt and pepper and roast in oven 6 to 8 hours (tomatoes will be greatly reduced in size but still moist). Cool.
Enjoy as is (slow-roasted Tomatoes are delightful piled on toast with ricotta) or pack into freezer bags and containers, eliminating air. Label and freeze to enjoy come winter!
Visit the Farm Store in August and September to stock up on tomatoes for your food preservation projects!
