"Slow-roasted tomatoes"

‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ #22   “Slow-roasted tomatoes - use red-and-ripe…”

                                                       

Friend Lee -and-Me, we arranged to meet early one Saturday morning at the Hope Street Food Market in Cape Town’s “East Village”….

Now, sadly I arrive well-fed , having downed at home, a scrumptious breakfast of assortment of fruits accompanied by Spar Brand GREEK DOUBLE-CREAM yoghurt, and glorious Moerse Padstaal’s thick crunchy toast with lashings of butter and Mad’s Marmalade (see blog #10   – “Crisp Creamcheese”), thus appetite none, to confuse the tastebuds with the enticing , mouthwateringly glorious selection of wonderful foods…

The smells and aromas, the visuals, the proffered tastings, the ……

Some being made while you wait …and others ‘prêt à manger’ (ready-to-eat).

And then stumbled upon, the veritable variety of preserves and bottled goods..and GOOD HEAVEN S- ! ….Such a stranomical   price for a  bloody  jar of  slow-roasted tomatoes  in  olive oil !!!  Helllllsteeth : …I-CAN-DO-THAT!...so do that I did, and did so, so well !

Soon after, I happed to be at favourite Fruit-and-Veg City , and saw they had a “Special”…whole boxes of tomatoes for next-to-nothing, so two I bought……….I won’t tell you that it took 4½plus  bloomin’ hours for roasting @ 150 *C

So , if you think that I am going to, yet again, wait 4½ hours for those bloomin’ tomatoes to slow-roast in my oven, you must be dreaming!!!  Just the cost of electricity used, is mindboggling…and the next visit to Fruit-and-Veg , I had an epiphany !   Yes!..they had 500g packs of  BABY  ITALIAN  ROSA  TOMATOES   on “Special”…..you know, the size of cocktail tomatoes: red ’n ripe ‘n shiny too !   

A genius I might not be-e-e-e…. but  lightbulbs  whirring in that head-of-mine, that very Mind   –  My Mind    tingling with pride, when I realise that BABY  ROSA TOMATOES   would  HAVE-TO  roast at far less time…thus making this farrrrrrr more economical…flavour same, flavourful, flavoursome!  

So.... 6 packs   I  did  procure!

…&&&&&&&….. A note of nostalgia :

My first experience of such flavours was in Rome, on regular sojourns to Italy and “The South” being Sicily,  in the early 1980s . Sundried  tomatoes  in  olive oil is so typically Sicilian!...a common dish to ‘‘Them’’,  yet a delicacy to Others….and the flavour, so much the delicious same as slow-roasted  too!, perhaps texture much different…..

                                                                                        

And so to recipes…..

      SLOW-ROASTED TOMATOES

               ***************************************

Slow-roasted tomatoes

INGREDIENTS:

Ingredients for Slow-roasted tomatoes

1)  I used 6 bags of 500g each (thus 3 kg baby tomatoes)..the yield was 8 generous assorted sized jars – average size: 250ml to 350ml

2)  Fresh garlic cloves sliced into thin slivers – quantity according to your preference…about 6 large garlic cloves

3)  1 tablespoon coarse (Kosher) salt sprinkled over all (you CAN use table salt- just a lesser quantity!)

4) About ½ cup olive oil drizzled over all.

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 150*C … Oven setting: …I prefer   ‘Convection’ (fan)

1)  I rinse and dry the baby tomatoes  - easiest by laying them flat between 2 clean dish towels

2) Spray 2 large oven trays/pans with ‘Spray ‘n Cook’

3) Divide all the tomatoes between 2 oven pans

4) Scatter the thinly sliced garlic cloves amongst the tomatoes

5) Scatter the coarse salt amongst the tomatoes

6) Sprinkle the olive oil sparingly over all…and shake the trays to coat the tomatoes

7) Put both trays of prepared baby tomatoes into the hot oven

8) Roast uncovered for at least 2 ½ hours…until they begin to wrinkle

9) Remove from oven, and put a “Bain Marie” with the cleaned glass jars into oven immediately -  just turning down the heat to 100*C  for 15 minutes.

10) Remove jars from oven, careful when handling them as they will be too hot to touch – I use a silicone glove, you can use those dishtowels, and fill each jar ½ full with the roasted tomatoes – be sure to gently scrape some of the slightly browned bits too, from the bottom of the baking pan, as well as the garlic, and carefully, a few at a time, place tomatoes into the jars, as not to break them.

11) Add about 1/8 cup good virgin olive oil to each jar, and top-up with the remaining tomatoes, and gently press them down into the jar, so that the oil comes to the top to cover them.

12) Seal jars while still warm.

Note:   if you do it right, they should last well, stored for a few months.

Once a jar has been opened, keep refrigerated..the olive oil will congeal when chilled, but takes 2 minutes to liquify at room temperature! Mmmmmmmmmmm……

Bottling :

You’ll need to sterilize the glass jars:

I begin this process 5 minutes before the tomatoes are ready to come out of the oven, so that these can go into that hot oven immediately.

I wash the jars thoroughly, then gradually pour boiling water into each jar, a little at a time, so that the jars don’t get a shock and crack.

Then once filled, empty the water into the oven pan (pan thus, to become a “Bain Marie”).

Place the jars, standing them upright, without the lids on, in a “Bain Marie” ( this is a basin of shallow water ) @ 100 *C for 15 minutes.

The lids, I soak in boiling water, then dry with a clean dishtowel.

Slow-roasted tomatoes...the proof is in the tasting!

The uses…

- These slow roasted tomatoes, marinated in olive oil, are super when you use just a few in a fresh green salad, or spread on crispy toast (ciabbata is good!)..with basil leaves and freshly cracked black pepper.

- Or Make an open sandwich with feta / pecorino /or other cheese that takes your fancy!

- Use in “sundried” tomato , soup recipes

- Blend with feta and pecorino and some olive oil, for a delicious pasta sauce!

***  Just wait till you see what’s-up NEXT  - you have a choice…ummmm?..actually , no!

 I shall decide, and surrrrrpr-r-r-r-ise you!

Oh? - have you read my very, very  1^st blog ?... “ Preserved Goose” ( “Confit  d’oie” ). Mmmmmm…….

–    see you next week…. 

‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’