Guess What???? The tomatoes are on!
Two summers ago I saved a FoodDay article from The Oregonian on slow roasting tomatoes and freezing them, as a way to preserve a butt load of fresh tomatoes. This year, we have the requisite butt load, so I’ve been busy. Once these Roma’s started to ripen, they’ve been picked nearly Every Day!
First you pick yourself a butt load, it helps if you have a red Italian Mama Ro bowl, it gives you a more authentic experience. Then you rinse them, then you drizzle some olive oil in the bottom of the clay roasting pan because only a roasting pan can hold a butt load of tomatoes.
Cut each tomato in quarters, I prefer to use a serrated steak knife when cutting tomatoes, its just quicker, and then toss them in the roasted pan. Repeat until pan is pretty full or you are out of tomatoes, whichever comes first:P
Now drizzle some more olive oil over the top, don’t be stingy!
And yes, that is some more Mama Ro I am using to drizzle the olive oil with, I am a big fan of Mama Ro and we are fortunate to have a local store here in Portland.
Slip back outside and pluck a few fresh basil leaves. What? you didn’t plant any? Well, there is always next summer, live and learn:) So, if you choose, (and why would you not) sprinkle some basil and some sea salt on top.
Kosher Style Flake Salt
If you only buy one salt this year make it this one. Kosher Flake salt has a long history and a great taste. The special shape of the flakes gives this salt the maximum of salt flavor with the minimum of salt used.
Stick ‘er in a 275 degree oven for several hours, giving an occasional stir and pull out when most of the juices have cooked out and it looks like this:
That dark thing to the left is a basil leaf. It should like pulpy and puree like. You can roast on higher temps (up to 400 degrees) for quicker results, but you need to really watch and stir.
You can roast them until they look caramelized if you want too.
When everything cools down, pour into freezer containers and freeze until winter, then make yourself some fabulous pasta with the taste of summer in it!
And you know what I plan to make…Ryan’s Bolognese Sauce.
