Tomato season is upon us, and they are everywhere; the Farmers Market, grocery store, and, most importantly, in my backyard. Each year I plant a few different types of tomatoes. I usually just eat the cherry tomatoes standing directly in front of the plant (most don't actually make it to my kitchen), but some have a longer lifespan. San Marzanos usually ripen last and end up being canned and used for pizza and pasta sauce during the winter and spring. This year, I added another heirloom tomato into the mix that ripens on the earlier side and was destined to be my BLT tomato. I eat many, many BLTs in the summer. Many. Alas, these tomatoes did not turn out to be all that I had hoped for - a little watery, a little mushy and not a ton of flavor. I decided to slow roast them to condense the flavor before freezing them to add to meals throughout the summer and fall. This technique takes a few hours in the oven but can yield sweet and flavor-packed tomatoes. I quartered my large heirlooms, but if you use cherry tomatoes - you can just leave them whole.
Normally I have a pretty specific ingredient list but for this recipe I'm just going to share the general idea. For the tomatoes, cut them into small-ish pieces (or leave whole if they are small) and lay them onto a sheet pan. Add lots of herbs (I used rosemary) and garlic cloves. Sprinkle with salt and oil (I used grapeseed). Preheat the oven to 200 and roast the tomatoes for 4-6 hours until they have shrunk in size and have lost most of their water. My ended up being in there around 5.5 hours.
Little flavor bombs! You can freeze these, use them right away, or preserve them in olive oil in the fridge.