Roasted Tomatoes: How & Why

It’s rare that one of the world’s best things is also one of the world’s easiest things to make. Fortunately for us all, roasted tomatoes count as one of those rarities. Here’s how to make the magic happen:

• Start with tiny tomatoes, like sungolds or sweet 100s. If they’re a bit larger and you’re in the market for extra juice, simply halve them.

• Place in a single layer on a pan and douse with olive oil. You don’t want them swimming, but you want them ankle-deep in an olive oil pool. Shake the pan so each tomato is solidly covered, then shower the lot with sea salt and fresh black pepper.

• Smash a few garlic cloves with the side of a knife, remove the peel, and tuck the cloves between the tomatoes in the pan. You’ll want at least 6 cloves for a full baking pan’s worth of tomatoes.

• Tuck some sprigs of thyme in there, if you fancy. Feel free to add peeled and quartered shallots, too (especially if you’re making roasted tomato bean dip).

• Pop in a 350°F oven and roast for as long as it takes the tomatoes to balloon and just start to burst (this should take around 20 minutes, give or take, depending on size and ripeness). Remove and let cool before packing up (with all their delicious roasting oil, of course).

Store the tomatoes and their outrageously garlicky, olive oil-y juices in a jar in the fridge; they’ll keep for two weeks…though you’ll likely devour them before then.

Speaking of devouring, here are some ideas for how to do so:
• At the restaurant, we toss them (and lots of the roasting oil) with seared summer squash, sliced snap peas and mint and serve them on top of super flavorful pesto, with ricotta salata shaved all over (recipe here!).

• Tuck them into a Turkish-ish breakfast salad.

• Toss ribbons of zucchini, shaved paper-thin on a mandoline (find our favorite in our shop), with tomatoes, roasted tomato oil and tangy feta cheese.

• Warm some tomatoes and a good bit of their oil in a pan, add beaten eggs, and cook slowly for a dreamy soft-scramble. Serve piled on garlic toast.

• Roast your tomatoes in a cast-iron pan instead of a baking sheet, at 400°F instead of 350°F (or on a grill rather than in the oven), and replace the quartered shallots with shaved ones. Once the tomatoes are starting to burst, nest a hearty white fish (like halibut or cod) into the pan, season the fish with a bit more salt and pepper, and bake it with the tomatoes. The combo of roasted juices and caramelized tomatoes, garlic and shallots is edible magic.

If your tomatoes are especially out of season and flavorless, but you just must have them (no judgment; we’ve been there!), here’s our trick: Add a touch of very mild, light honey (warm it first, if it’s thick) to the olive oil to sweeten the situation. A touch of reduced or super-aged balsamic vinegar can do the trick, too.