recipe: oven roasted garlic tomatoes
I spent my first NYC summer working long hours, meeting new people, and discovering new places. The most memorable person I met during this time is Jessica, who became one of my best friends in NYC (and she still is today!). Jessica opened my eyes to several things: socks with sandals, layering four shirts during the summer and the world of gluten free eating. Jess has to eat a gluten free diet, so she is always on the look out for a great restaurant that can serve her.
I had known Jessica for about two weeks when she introduced me to what would become one of my FAVORITE New York restaurants: Risotteria. Situated in the heart of the West Village on Bleecker Street, this tiny restaurant stole a little piece of my heart when they first sat their delicious gluten free bread sticks on our table. This restaurant is where I ate my first ”I seriously would die for it” oven roasted tomato. I didn’t know how they did it, but I just HAD to figure out the process!
Let me go ahead and tell you, Risotteria doesn’t share. So, I was left to figure this out myself. Several online researches, blog reading, and many trials later, I started to figure out the technique. And the one thing you need to take away from this post is this: TIME. You need time, and patience, and lots of both. These tomatoes will not turn out if you try to rush them!
Now, before I go any further, let me continue to reiterate the amount of patience you need. My tomatoes roast for a minimum of four, 4, FOUR hours. A minimum friends. The ones featured in this post spent almost five hours roasting. Here’s why: slowly dehydrating the tomato allows the sugars to break down slowly, eliminating evaporation and delivering you one heck of a tasty fruit!
Now, I’ll hush and post the recipe. It’s super hard easy, so you have to try these the very next chance you get!
Oven Roasted Garlic Tomatoes (print recipe)
Makes 8 tomatoes - Prep Time: 10 minutes - Cook Time: 5 hours
What You’ll Need:
- 4 roma tomatoes
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tbsp. dried basil
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
- Cut the tomatoes in half and place on a non-stick baking sheet
- Carefully drizzle olive oil over tomatoes, making sure to only use about 1 tablespoon’s worth.
- Evenly sprinkle the minced garlic, dried basil, salt and pepper over the tomatoes.
- Place in the oven for up to 5 hours.
Bon appetite!
