Even though it is mid-November, many gardeners in milder areas of the country may still be harvesting tomatoes. What to do with those remaining, healthy tomatoes? Can or freeze them!
Roasted tomatoes add so much more tomato flavor to any recipe you prepare that calls for tomatoes (such as pasta sauce, whole tomatoes or diced tomatoes). And it's an easy way to preserve the harvest for use throughout the year, either canned or frozen.
To preserve the most flavor, roast them at a low temperature for a long period of time. Convection ovens, which distribute the heat more equally, are great for this. If you don't have a convection oven, be sure to turn the tomatoes once at the midpoint of the roasting process.
Our recipe:
• Cut fresh tomatoes into equally thick slices, about a quarter-inch to a half-inch thick (no peeling necessary!). Cherry tomatoes can be cut in half.
• Place cut tomatoes in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Drizzle with olive oil.
• Bake for 90 minutes to two hours at 300 degrees (250 if your convection oven goes that low). If roasting on two trays simultaneously on upper and lower racks, switch them half way through. Check for doneness at 90 minutes; go longer if necessary.
• The tomatoes will shrink, but should still look somewhat meaty.
• Freeze in small batches or can them (hot water processing) in pint or quart jars.
*There are naturally occurring sugars in tomatoes. In this recipe, there are no added sugars.
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Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County.
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Roasted Tomatoes