“Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.” – Russell Baker
Ain’t that the truth? Here at Frog Bottom as I’m writing this it’s 96°F, with a heat index of 108°F. While Ali, Joseph, Eric, Heather, and Claire tend to the irrigation, keep all the animals well watered, staff the CSA pickups, and daydream about swimming in the James River, Arlo and I are doing what we can to stay cool: lots of iced coffee (for mama), peach and basil smoothies (for both of us), picture books read while parked between two fans, splashing in a cool bathtub.
Perhaps the heat has addled our brains, because we’re also slow-roasting tomatoes.
I suppose it’s a stretch but I argue we can still call this a great activity for a sticky summer day, since, after all, slow-roasting doesn’t involve very much participation or even movement on your part.
Slow-roasted tomatoes are simple as can be: put your tomatoes on a cookie sheet or in a casserole dish. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt. Toss. Roast in a low oven (about 225°F) for three or more hours, until nice and wrinkly.
We decided to slow-roast today because the tomatoes are in in a big way – more than we can eat even when we eat them three meals a day. So we’re roasting them, and, if we don’t eat all four pans in one sitting, we’ll freeze as many as we can. There’s little that lifts the spirits so well, in the deep dark icy depths of winter, than these little bursts of summer flavor. (Well, maybe pesto as well – make some; it freezes great too!)
Slow-roasting is more method than recipe. Play around!
For example:
Cook them in a hotter oven for less time, if you need to. I prefer to roast them low and slow, because it really concentrates their sweetness without drying them out — sometimes I even set the oven as low as it will go and slow-roast them overnight — but they’re quite delicious any way you do them.
These don’t need anything more than olive oil and salt, but those two ingredients can also anchor more complex flavors from additional herbs and spices. Try chili pepper or cayenne. Try them with fresh or dried thyme or rosemary or oregano. Cumin is also very good!
Or try adding some balsamic vinegar too. That gives them a lovely pungent sweetness.
Use bigger tomatoes, coarsely shopped, and seeded if you have the patience – or not.
Later in the summer, when our Roma or paste tomatoes are in, we’re mad for pomodori al forno – a dish of lightly herbed slow-roasted tomatoes that marinate in olive oil with parsley and garlic for a couple hours before you eat them with goat cheese and bread. It’s out of this world.
But for now, plain old slow-roasted cherry tomatoes will do. They will most certainly do.
We love them straight out of the pan … tossed in a green salad or potato salad or pasta salad … stirred into a frittata before it bakes … alongside roasted eggplant and caramelized onions and tangy goat cheese as crostini toppings … on pizza.
There are lots of tomatoes in the CSA shares this week, and more are available at market. Here are some more recipe ideas. Tomato season comes but once a year. It lasts awhile here in Virginia – tomato plants adore this heat! – but before you know it, it’ll be time for kabocha squash soup and kale chips.
How have you been eating your tomatoes this year?
