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Slow-roasted tomatoes with whole garlic cloves
Loading...Slow vs. quick roasting
Chewy and intensely flavorful, slow-roasted tomatoes are delicious by themselves or can be added to recipes in infinite ways. Use oven-roasted tomatoes as part of a tapas platter, on bruschetta, in soups, salads, salsa, eggs, sandwiches and pasta. To me, slow-roasting creates a superior product than quick-roasting in a hot oven. The slow-roast process concentrates flavor more deeply and creates a chewier, denser result. If you have 3-4 hours to keep an eye on the oven while they cook, I highly recommend the slow approach. If you don't have the time, a quick-roast in a hot oven still results in a great product, just not quite as intensely flavored, juicier and less dense.
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Whole garlic cloves
Slow-roasting tomatoes provides an opportunity to slow-roast whole garlic cloves along side the tomatoes. Unlike the quick-roasting method, the lower heat will not burn your garlic. You can slice the garlic cloves up and toss them in olive oil with the tomatoes, or roast whole individual cloves with their paper still on. The garlic cloves will be done in about an hour. The roasted cloves can be used in bruschetta, salads, soups, pasta, sandwiches, etc...
Flavor bombs
Having a stash of roasted tomatoes and garlic in your fridge will provide instant flavor bombs to add zip to your cooking. Make enough to add to your recipes for about a week.
PrintSlow-roasted tomatoes with whole garlic cloves
Slow-roasting transforms a great tomato, or even a not-so-great tomato into a luscious, flavor-dense, chewy treat. They stand alone in a tapas platter or can be worked into salads, soups, bruschetta, eggs, pasta, salsas and more. A slow-roasted tomato is the little black dress of your culinary wardrobe.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 24 halves 1x
Ingredients
- 1 dozen roma tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
- Olive oil
- Cloves from one head of garlic, separated, but not peeled
- 3 T of rosemary, thyme or basil, finely chopped
- Sea salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Heat oven to 225 degrees. Rub a little olive oil in the bottom of a roasting pan. Sprinkle cloves between tomatoes. Toss tomatoes and garlic with a generous splash of olive oil and sprinkle with herbs, salt and pepper. Turn tomato halves so they are all cut-side up in pan. Cook 3-4 hours, checking every hour.
- The garlic cloves will be done after about an hour. Remove garlic and continue roasting the tomatoes. Let the garlic cloves cool and then slip them off their peel. You can use them with the tomatoes or reserve for another use.
- Tomatoes are done when you are satisfied with their texture. You can leave them a little plump and juicy or take them way down until they are caramelized and chewy.
- If you have any leftovers, store in fridge covered in olive oil for about a week.
THIS SERVES WELL WITH
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Made these this weekend…it was super easy and they are delicious. The bonus? I have been able to eat them as healthy snacks all week!
These are my new addiction! They are so easy to make and I’m making them for the second time in a week. I took a few into work and my coworkers couldn’t get enough 🙂
What a healthy thing to be addicted to. Thank you for writing in!
Made these today, and I believe my tomatoes must have been extra firm because I was able to put them in an extra hour and still probably have left them in even longer — I love them really caramelized. However, they were delicious. Snacking on them today was basically lunch and dinner. Just delicious.
I agree Vixen, sometimes I leave them in the oven for an extra hour too. Timing depends on the ripeness and the size of your tomatoes, as well as how juicy or dry you like them. Low and slow is the secret. I made some quick roasted tomatoes in a hot oven last night. While good, they just don’t compare with slow roasted.
about to roast them, does it matter how high the sides of the pan is?
I have a dark seasoned cookie sheet I use for broccoli, so I will do the high sided roasting pan now.
Hi Arleen, no it doesn’t matter. Sometimes I roast my tomatoes on a sheet pan and other times I do it in a roasting pan.
I do this not only with my “cherry” tomatoes, but I roast all my extra ones like this. The larger ones need to be cut into 3rds or even quartered. I place them on a baking sheet, drizzle with evoo, sprinkle with salt and pepper, sprinkle oregano and basil and finally with chopped garlic. I also put this pan of wonderfulness on my charcoal grill and roast them that way. And most of these roasted tomatoes are put into a bowl and my immersion blender turns them into a great tomato sauce for pizzas or whatever. I freeze a lot so I have this great treat all through the winter to spring when my garden starts to produce.
Hi Bayou Andy, I love the idea of roasting tomatoes on a charcoal grill. I am sure you get an extra smoky flavor out of them that way. Freezing roasted tomatoes is also a great idea and something I have not personally tried. Thanks for sharing!
I do pretty much the same as Bayou Andy…down in the south we don’t want to use our ovens unless we have to in the summer! I also make a lot of oven-dried tomato pesto and freeze that also! Let it defrost and use as normal…yYummy!
Oven dried tomato pesto is an awesome idea Maggie!
I made these on Tuesday night and have eaten them alone as snacks, on focaccia bread for lunch, and just this morning in a pressed sandwich. Then I posted the link to the recipe on FaceBook so my friends could make them. They’re just so delicious.
If I can get a few tomatoes out of my garden before the critters get them, I’ll be making these and freezing for winter.
HI Susan — I’m so glad you enjoyed the roasted tomatoes. Thank you for the FB link, always appreciated. The wonderful thing about this tomato recipe is it works for not-very-good-so-so-winter tomatoes too. It brings out wonderful tomato flavor in just OK tomatoes. So don’t save the recipe for your garden fresh tomatoes. I make these all year long and they are always terrific!
I just started using the recipes myself, I’m a bust person and usually stick to what I know. But after hearing over and over how great and easy Kim’s recipes are, I tried a few things and I’m a believer. These are wonderful, easy and a fun surprise for guests. Thanks Kim for making it easy!
Is the temperature 225 for the entire roasting time – seems really high
To me- that’s almost as hot as my oven will
Go?
Hi Lisa, Are you writing from the U.S. or elsewhere? I have a sneaky suspicion you are writing from a country that measures oven temperature in centigrade. All of my recipes are written in Fahrenheit, which is the standard in the U.S. 225 degrees Fahrenheit is 437F and edging to the top temperature of many ovens. My apologies. Regardless of the measurement, you can take the temperature up or down a little and vary the time accordingly. Remember the size of your tomatoes will play a big part of how much time they will need to be cooked, with larger tomatoes taking longer. Thank you for writing in!
what would be the best substitute for the burrata cheese? fresh mozzarella or ricotta?
Hi Mindy,
Burrata is actually cream-filled mozzarella, so a nice fresh buffalo mozzarella will work well too. Ricotta goes well with tomatoes too, just a different texture and flavor. My preference would be the mozzarella, but it really is a personal choice.
I love your recipe! I’m making them now to freeze and eat all winter. Even my husband, who does not like tomatoes, says they taste like candy. I add them to my pasta recipes.
Hi Julie, Thank you for writing in. I never thought about freezing them. Great idea. Maybe freeze in ice cube trays? Write back and tell us how freezing works out. Thank you!