Keep this recipe for the summer when tomatoes improve in quality and come down even more in price. This technique is a winner any time of the year.
Yield: 4 servings
Time: 90 minutes
Ingredients
3-4 pounds tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the end of the stem at the top of the tomato. Place all the tomatoes on a Silpat sheet or a piece of aluminum foil on a shallow roasting pan. Drizzle each tomato with olive oil and season with sea salt and black pepper.
Roast 90 minutes. When you remove the tomatoes from the oven you'll notice the accumulation of a clear liquid. A small portion of that is the seasoned olive oil. But mostly that liquid is given off by the tomato itself. That liquid or, let's be bold and call it "nectar", is pure essence-of-tomato. Save every drop.
At this point the tomatoes can be served whole as a side dish with grilled or roasted meats. They can also be peeled and chopped for a pasta or a braised meat dish like short ribs. Run them through a food mill and you have the beginnings of a delicious tomato sauce.
If you don't use all the tomatoes right away, they can be placed in an air-tight container and frozen for several months without damaging their flavor.
A final tip about tomato nectar. If you like mozzarella with tomatoes but this time of year the fresh tomatoes don't have enough flavor, drizzle the tomato nectar (slightly warmed) over slices of mozzarella. You're in for a treat.
- Recipe courtesy of David Latt from the Men Who Like To Cook.