Preserving Summer with Slow Roasted Tomatoes

With the first frost upon us, the availability of our beautiful juicy tomatoes we enjoyed all summer will soon begin to dwindle. In today's fast paced world it has become hard to find the time to indulge in all day cook-a-thons to preserve our favorites. For this reason, I have turned to the art of slow roasting.

Slow roasting is a method of cooking that I learned in California that will give you a welcoming reprieve from canned vegetables. This technique concentrates flavor by slowly evaporating the juices in a low temperature oven. In comparison to sun-dried tomatoes, which often have a leathery texture, the results of slow roasting tomatoes are incredible.

This recipe only requires three ingredients and will only take about 15 minutes of effort.

Ingredients:

4lbs of plum tomatoes

7 cloves of garlic

6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

As an avid participant in buying local, I suggest getting your tomatoes at Fales' Farm Stand on Metacom Ave. in Bristol or Johnson's Roadside Farm Market just over the Warren/ Swansea line on Market St.

First, you will need to preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Next, gather the plum tomatoes and cut in circles or in halves lengthwise then place them on a cookie sheet.

 You should then combine the 6 tablespoons of olive oil, 7 cloves of garlic, chopped, and salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the mixture over tomatoes and roast in the oven for six hours (seven or eight hours for crisper results).

I suggest picking up a baguette from Bristol Bakery and serving the tomatoes on small slices of the crusty bread with your favorite olive oil as an appetizer. More uses for these tomatoes include tossing them in with pasta and simply eating them as a snack.

To preserve the tomatoes, keep them in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.