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10/01/1999 Archived Entry: "Roasted Tomatoes for the Winter"

There’s already a roasted tomato recipe on this web site. It’s in the section called Favorite Radio Recipes. This is different. This is the way my associate, Iris Carulli, and I, squirrel away tomatoes for the winter – under oil in the refrigerator. It’s not too late for you to do the same. Indeed, now is the time to buy large quantities of vine-ripened plum tomatoes at a very good price. In another couple of weeks – okay, maybe several weeks – we’ll have our first frost and great tomatoes will be gone for another 10 months.

Oven-Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil

For about 10 pounds of tomatoes, you will need at least 4 baking pans or four-sided baking sheets (also called jelly roll pans) -- quantities are approximate since sizes of tomatoes and ovens vary.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Drizzle as many shallow baking pans as will fit in your oven with extra-virgin olive oil. With your hands, spread the oil to cover the bottom of the pans.

Wash the tomatoes and halve them lengthwise. Place them cut side up snugly in the pans. Sprinkle each half with fine sea salt – just a pinch per half. Drizzle the tomato tops with more olive oil.

Roast the tomatoes until they are shriveled and just slightly soft – the point before they start to blacken. If they start to blacken before sufficiently drying out, reduce the oven temperature. The tomatoes will need about 4 hours altogether, but it is necessary to change the position of the pans during that time because the edges nearest the heat source will tend to burn. Some tomatoes will shrivel to the desired point ahead of the others: remove them and combine the juicier tomato halves in fewer pans as you do. This prevents the pan juices (which are mainly tomato-and-salt-flavored olive oil) from burning. As you free up a pan, scrape up any slightly burned bits and juices and combine them with the roasted tomatoes in a bowl. If you want, you can roast the tomatoes in a 250-degree oven overnight without risk of burning them. This is actually my favorite way -- the lower the temperature, the better the result.

Wash wide-mouthed glass jars in hot soapy water, rinse them very well and air-dry them.

Place the tomatoes with their juices in the jars, tamping them down with a clean spoon as you fill up the jars to within 1/2 inch from the top. Top up each jar with extra-virgin olive oil so that the tomatoes are well-covered. Place the lids on and keep in the refrigerator or the freezer. They keep at least a year, refrigerated.

To serve, remove the amount of tomatoes you wish to serve and replace the rest in the fridge. Bring the chilled tomatoes to room temperature before serving. They can be gently heated in a 250-degree oven. Serve them whole as an antipasto – on bruschetta if you wish --or chopped as a dressing for pasta.