Preserving the Tomato Harvest

Look at these beauties!  The Early Girls are still going in my garden.  In fact, I have more tomatoes than I know what to do with and suspect you might too. Here are some ideas for preserving your tomato harvest.  If you take time now to do some slow roasting and stewing, you will reap the rewards for months to come.

SLOW-ROASTED TOMATOES

This recipe has no yield because it is a simple process that yields as much as you put into it.  Slow-roast and then freeze your tomatoes for future use in sauces, soups, stews and lasagnas. They are also delicious on savory toasts with goat cheese and pesto.

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• whole cherry tomatoes, stemmed
• standard tomatoes, stemmed and cut in half
• salt and pepper

Directions:

• Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a sheet pan (or two) with parchment paper.
• For cherry tomatoes: In a mixing bowl, toss the cherry tomatoes to cover with olive oil and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Spread them out on the prepared sheet pan – don’t crowd them too much or their moisture won’t evaporate. If you have to, use 2 sheet pans. Roast them until they begin to caramelize, about 1 hour.
• For tomatoes: In a mixing bowl, toss the tomato halves to cover with olive oil and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Spread them out on the prepared sheet pan – don’t crowd them too much or their moisture won’t evaporate. If you have to, use 2 sheet pans. Roast them until they begin to caramelize, about 2 hours.

Other ideas for preserving your tomato harvest:

• Make and freeze Pim’s Super-Quick and Fantastic Tomato Sauce.
• Forget preserving and enjoy your tomatoes NOW with an end of summer gazpacho!

QUICK FOLLOW-UP from last week:  I am happy to report that David Lebovitz’s Tourte de Blettes (Swiss chard and apple tart) is worth every ounce of Swiss chard! 24 ounces, to be exact.  I used my own pie crust and omitted the sugar from the filling.  With the raisins soaked in brandy (um, yum!), it is so not necessary…