Roasted Tomatoes

These oven-roasted tomatoes are so tender and juicy finished with a sprinkle of sea salt and fresh basil, they are enough to make you fall in love with the season. Use grape tomatoes or larger tomatoes they both roast beautiuflly, just remember to buy the best tomatoes that you can find.

Fresh tomatoes equal a good tomato sauce is that's what  you're making. Use them straight away on pasta, bruschetta, side dishes or store them for later.  Have you tried roasted tomatoes with pasta? You have to try this pasta sauce recipe with fresh herbs for a delicious meal!

Roasted Tomato Recipe

When tomatoes are in season, usually summer tomatoes are the good tomatoes because that's when they are at their best!  Whenever your tomato season arrives, make the most them, there are so many favorite ways to use tomatoes. You can make a slow roasted tomatoes recipe, which is roasting the tomatoes at a lower temperature for longer, make tomato soup, use plum tomatoes to roast garlic cloves, use them as a delicious side dish, the list is endless!

​There is never a question of what should we do with tomatoes in our house, we will eat them raw on bread, with pasta, in salads, with couscous, just so many ways to serve flavorful tomatoes. I think the most popular way to eat a variety of tomatoes is in a caprese salad. 

Just last week, I had a proud moment of sharing my homegrown tomatoes on Instagram stories! I love fresh organic tomatoes even more. Roasting tomatoes really takes such little time and once roasted and cooled, you can store them in a jar or any airtight container to use later. 

Why Roast Tomatoes?

It's not simply the act of roasting, it's also the salt that helps the tomatoes 'sweat' as we say when frying onions? Same thing with roasting tomatoes. The salt helps the tomatoes release their juices under heat and when this happens, they are not so watery and the flavors become stronger or more intense for lack of a better word.  Also, according to the article on the The Tasting Table, it enriches the sweetness of the fruit and balances out the acidity. 

How To Roast Tomatoes

Hot and fast is how we're doing it today. Yes, you can slow roast your tomatoes for hours and get a much sweeter taste, more caramelized. I love both ways and this is the faster version that still yields juicy charred earthy oven roasted tomatoes without the caramelization. 

It takes half an hour and we're done so let's do it; 

Prep:  Rinse and slice in half and place onto a sheet pan. You can do the prep in a bowl and then lay them in a single layer on the baking tray but I prefer to do the prep in the same tray that they're going to roast in. 1 less bowl to wash yes!

Preheat the oven to 220°C / 428°F (For a slow roast, preheat to160°C / 320°F)

Prep: Slice the tomatoes in half depending on which one you are using you may need to cut them into quarters if they are too big.

Season: Drizzle extra virgin olive oil and salt & pepper, that's all you need to roast tomatoes. However, you can also add fresh thyme, whole garlic clove/s, balsamic vinegar, (or red wine vinegar), herbs and spices. I like to use these spices. Either the vegetable spice or Calabrese spice.

Roast: Turn the tomato halves around cut side up in the sheet pan (baking tray) and bake for 30 minutes without turning or moving them around.

Serve: Serve with fresh thyme or fresh basil and salt. See serving suggestions below.

How Long Do Tomatoes Take To Roast

The roasting time depends on the type of tomato or the size would be an effective way to time them. Smaller tomatoes take about 20 minutes, usually that's enough time to get a nice umami flavor on them. For larger size tomatoes, about 30 to 40 minutes (30 minutes being the preferred time).

​Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes

When you roasting tomatoes it's also a great way to start making sun-dried tomatoes! You can use any small tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes or any kind of tomatoes really, just cut them smaller if they're too large. The only difference is that the cooking time will differ from a 30 minute high heat to a slow-roasted tomatoes recipe. You must roast them for around 3 hours on an extremely low temperature and the final product will be an easy recipe of sun-dried tomatoes! 

​Sun-dried tomatoes need time for slow roasting and living in South Africa, this is not the best recipe since we constantly find ourselves in a load shedding situation! Regardless the roasting times for sun-dried tomatoes is 110°C / 230°F

Serving Suggestions

So you've roasted the tomatoes and now what?

How do serve these gorgeous oven roasted tomatoes that make your house smell insanely good! I am here to give you but just a few ideas and I'm sure you will find many more ways: 

Bruschetta or crostini are my most favorite way to eat roasted tomatoes. Add them to pastry and make this Tomato Tart or these mini tarts. You can add them onto potatoes, couscous, rice, onto a wrap with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream, make a 'make-shift' salsa, so many ways!  Over some creamy risotto.

If you try this Oven Roasted Tomatoes recipe please feel free to leave me a comment and a star rating! And if you take a photo of your dish and share it on Instagram, please tag me @anosmickitchen and use the hashtag #anosmickitchen because I love seeing your remakes!

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If you try this Oven Roasted Tomatoes recipe please feel free to leave me a comment and a star rating! And if you take a photo of your dish and share it on Instagram, please tag me @anosmickitchen and use the hashtag #anosmickitchen because I love seeing your remakes!