Slow roasted tomatoes have absolutely nothing to do with my exciting news. We had a boy! The newest addition to the Hooton family was born Saturday evening along with two brothers and four sisters. I had no idea adopting a puppy would be this exciting. I bought Molly from a pet store. Back then, I was completely unaware of puppy mills. I just saw an adorable little beagle in a store window and fifteen minutes later she was ours. Happily for her and us, she was healthy.
This time we chose our puppy more responsibly. We researched the breeder, had several great conversations, felt really comfortable then decided to adopt. The little guy will be flown to us some time in May – I CAN’T WAIT!. Until then, we need to ride out the rest of winter.
So, back to the tomatoes! If you’re anything like me, you’ve got to be sick to death of all the sour tomatoes being sold this time of year. It matters not whether they’re being shipped from Chili or Mexico or whether they’re organic, on-the-vine or the hard, whitish, kinda square variety; they’re all sour! So what to do with them? How about the same thing that you do with any vegetable that needs some help – even though tomatoes are technically a fruit – you roast them for a long time in a slow oven. It’s amazing how these nasty little tomato wannabees turn into the most delicious succulent bites of tomato after they take a nap in the oven! I added a drizzle of good quality balsamic vinegar to heighten the sugar content that sounded really pretentious. How about – a little twelve year old balsamic vinegar kicks up the caramelizing? – no better… The point is it has to be real balsamic vinegar ACETO BALSAMICO TRADIZIONALE and not the grocery store caramel-added vinegary stuff. This variety is a wine vinegar with artificial color, caramel and thickeners like guar gum or cornflour added to artificially simulate the sweetness and thickness of the aged Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena. Given that you’re only going to use a dribble, go for the gold! It’s so worth it…
Slow Roasted Tomatoes
Preheat oven 275*F
Tomatoes
Bay leaves
Extra virgin olive oil
Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Use as many and of whatever variety of tomatoes that you would like
Cut the tomatoes in half and place in baking dish
Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Use 1 bay leaf per 4 tomatoes
Use 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil per 4 tomatoes – drizzle over tomatoes
A drop of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale per tomato half
Place dish in preheated oven for 4 hours
Serve immediately, warm or cold.
Will keep in the fridge, well covered, up to a week.
THE LOVE: Don’t use mushy tomatoes. Not even the oven can save those suckers!
one year ago: Irish soda bread
Thanks for reading
