For years, we’ve been roasting fresh locally grown tomatoes with our Ultra Premium Extra virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) and stock up our freezer for year round deliciousness! Once you’ve had these, it’s hard to be without! They can be used as is, for pasta sauce, in soups, chili, and anywhere you want that amazing flavour. Such a treat especially in the cold winter months.
We’ve had so much fun picking tomatoes with family and friends at local farms, then filling the air with the beautiful scent of this roasted fruit!
Rich with flavour and healthy as could be, here’s the recipe for year-round goodness. This is a recipe that can easily be adjusted to roast smaller or larger batches of tomatoes.
– approximately 15 lbs Roma tomatoes* (or, enough to cover 2 X-large or 4 medium-large roasting pans when cut in half)
– 3 heads garlic, broken into cloves and peeled
– 2 sprigs fresh Rosemary
– 1 1/2 – 2 Cups Olive Us EVOO (Garlic infused, Coratina, etc.) plus a bit part way through cooking
– 1/4 Cup Olive Us Rosemary Fused Olive Oil
– 2 teaspoon Olive Us Himalayan pink sea salt
– fresh ground pepper to cover tomatoes
Preheat oven to 375°F (can use 350-375°F for convection bake; when baking multiple pans). Regular oven is fine for smaller batches! Every oven is different, so keep an eye on them to reduce chance of burning the tomatoes (a little bit is ok, but not too much).
Get out 2 really large or 4 medium-large roasting pans that will fit on two racks in oven at the same time & make sure these pans are at least 1.5 inches deep or liquid may spill out*
Drizzle small amount of oil onto the bottom of the pans. Rinse tomatoes. Slice each tomato in half lengthwise, placing it cut side up in one of the roasting pans. Place larger tomatoes towards the edge when possible. Overlap of larger tomatoes with small is fine; they will look crowded. Don’t stack them more than 2 layers or the tomatoes may steam more than roast.
Once the pans are full, de-stem rosemary so that you have little sprigs and tuck them between the tomatoes to avoid burning. Drizzle each pan with Olive Us Rosemary Fused olive oil and then with most of the EVOO (garlic or a single varietal). Sprinkle with Himalayan pink sea salt and evenly grind pepper over the pans.
Place pans in oven, do not cover with foil.
After one hour, reduce temperature to 350°F and drizzle with a bit more EVOO. With the side of a large knife, partially crush garlic cloves and place in gaps using a spoon (avoiding the outside of pan as they are more prone to burning there). Continue cooking for another 2 hours approximately.
Some tomatoes may be slightly burnt and very reduced in size, with liquid and olive oil in the bottom of the pan. If tomatoes start to get too dark, reduce temperature and continue cooking. Once cooled, transfer tomatoes (along with any liquids) into freezer bags/containers and freeze.
Whenever you need tomato sauce just take some out and heat in a pan for an instant duo with pasta (you can leave the tomatoes chunky/whole or blend with some cream and stock to make a sauce, or add spicy Italian sausage, cooked chicken, roasted veg, etc)! Fantastic in soups, stews or anything where you want that fabulous flavour!
Makes such a delicious snack right out of the oven that you just may end up with two pans instead of three!
Enjoy!!
*We tend to use Roma tomatoes because they are more meaty than other tomatoes, but this also works good with regular tomatoes. If tomatoes are large, cut into quarters instead of halves, as they’ll release more moisture and cook quicker.
