sweet miscellany

Slow roasting then freezing cherry tomatoes is an incredibly flavorful and simple way to extend their season. Slow roasting allows the flavors to concentrate in addition to releasing excess moisture. This method doesn’t require any special equipment or ingredients!

In Houston, tomatoes arrive at a time that most Americans would consider spring. They come as early as April here in Houston, giving as much as they can until they taper off with the arrival of the intense heat in July and August. Typically, fruit production and maturation will begin to wan when high temperatures soar into the 90s but this often depends on the variety and factors unique to their growing environment.

Enter the question that has been asked since the advent of agriculture: how do we extend their life beyond their fresh state? Originally this was a question posed out of necessity in order to plan for the lean, winter months. As time has gone on, it’s become a way to extend the harvest so to speak and be able to still enjoy fruits and vegetables beyond their season. In general culinary terms, this is called preservation and it can come in a variety of forms from dehydration to jams to pickles. It can also come in the form of the modern wonder called your freezer, which is the easy method I’m sharing with you today!

An Easy Way To Extend the Season of Your Tomatoes

An incredibly simple way to extend the life of a tomato involves roasting and freezing. Roasting allows the flavors to concentrate in addition to releasing excess moisture (which lessens the worry of freezer burn). This method is incredibly easy and doesn’t require specialized equipment (unlike water bath canning) and takes up relatively little space considering an entire standard sheet pan of tomatoes can be packed into a small half-pint (one cup capacity) jar once roasted. This way, you can have them on hand for future meals when tomatoes are but a dream and you’re craving their sweet acidity in a dish!

Ways to Enjoy Your Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Since these tomatoes are prepared simply in terms of ingredients, they can be used in variety of recipes! Here’s a few ways I love to use them:

• Blended with toasted pine nuts and basil for a quick pasta or pizza sauce
• In this acorn squash tomato soup with thyme & rosemary
• Mixed with sauteed mushrooms and served atop a bed of herb-flecked polenta (or you could use them in this recipe in place of the balsamic roasted tomatoes)
• As a pizza topping along with sauteed Swiss chard and fennel

Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

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• Author: Courtney
• Total Time: 55-70 minutes
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

Slow roasting then freezing cherry tomatoes is an incredibly flavorful and simple way to extend their season. Slow roasting allows the flavors to concentrate in addition to releasing excess moisture. This method doesn’t require any special equipment or ingredients!

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Ingredients

• locally grown cherry tomatoes (or other smaller varieties), sliced in half
• olive oil
• sea salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• small half-pint canning jars or other similar freezer-safe containers

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Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Arrange the tomatoes on the baking sheet cut side up. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Roast the tomatoes for 45-60 minutes or until they are just beginning to caramelize around the edges and have released a good bit of moisture. 

Let the tomatoes cool completely. Pack them into clean pint jars (press down with the backs of your fingers to make sure you’re getting rid of any air bubbles). Place a small piece of plastic wrap (or other equivalent) directly onto the surface of the tomatoes making sure there’s an overhang. Press the plastic wrap gently so that it is flush with the tomatoes, then screw on the lid tightly. Label with the name and date and pop the jars in your freezer. Plan to use these within 6-8 months. 

When you’re ready to use your tomatoes for a recipe, simply place the jar in the fridge 1-2 days beforehand to allow them to thaw. 

Notes

This can be done with any amount of tomatoes but I highly recommend doing at least a quart at a time otherwise it will seem unnecessarily tedious.  For this batch I had about a quart and a half of tomatoes so I divided it between two baking sheets. The yield was two full half-pint jars.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 45-60 minutes