How to enjoy tomatoes

Hunger makes you restless. You dream about food – not just any food, but perfect food, the best food, magical meals, famous and awe-inspiring, the one piece of meat, the exact taste of buttery corn, tomatoes so ripe they split and sweeten the air, beans so crisp they snap between the teeth, gravy like mother’s milk singing to your bloodstream.
~Dorothy Allison, Bastard Out of Carolina

From Tessa Kiros’ “Falling Cloudberries”:
#61 Oven-Roasted Tomatoes – Page 288

These do take some time to cook, but they are so worth the wait! They emerged from the oven slightly crisp and golden around the edges, aromatic, succulent and so deliciously sweet… I have to admit I whooped in delight as I bit into the first wedge. Mmmm!

Modifications: 1.5kg of tomatoes seemed like an awful lot to roast when I am not an avid fan of tomatoes! I won’t be afraid to roast that quantity next time though :-)

I had three perfect wedges of these oven-roasted tomatoes with scrambled eggs and pan-fried asparagus tonight, and I’m pretty sure they will taste equally good with bread, pasta or on an antipasto platter.

Oven-Roasted Tomatoes – recipe adapted and modified from Tessa Kiros’ “Falling Cloudberries”

Ingredients:
5 ripe tomatoes
3 garlic cloves (if storing)
1/4 cup olive oil (if storing)
1 bay leaf (optional, if storing)
2 sprigs rosemary (optional, if storing)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a flat baking tray with aluminium foil, then brush the foil with oil to prevent sticking.

Rinse the tomatoes, pat dry and cut in half vertically. Arrange them close together, seeded side up, on the foil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 15 minutes, or until they start sizzling or colouring.

Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C and bake for another 1.5 hours, until they are golden around their rims and a little shrivelled, but still a little juicy. They should not be soggy or collapsed, but firm and a little more juicy than store-bought sundried tomatoes.

Remove the tomatoes from the oven, and serve immediately (mmm!) or transfer them to a container suitable for the fridge, adding the oil, garlic, bay leaf and rosemary (or seasonings of your choice). They will keep for a few days – and you can use the flavoured oil with other dishes after the tomatoes are used up.