Right around last week, you no doubt were ecstatic to finally see bright red on your straggly green plants and enjoyed the summers first slice of homegrown tomato.
Right about six days later you realize 'Uh, what am I gonna do with all these tomatoes'...as they just keep coming on and on and on and on.
If this is you (or even if it isn't you); gather up your ripe tomatoes and get ready for an easy recipe that you can use for so many things.
If you don't have a tomato plant, I feel for you...because there is NO comparison to a fresh homegrown tomato.
I love sun-dried tomatoes, but I won't pay $6-$8 for a tiny jar at the market.
So here is my recipe which will use a huge bowl of your tomatoes AND provide you with a lovely amount of the best flavor EVER.
You are going to make this recipe at night after you have cleaned up from dinner.
This is what you will need:
- A large cookie sheet completely covered with foil
- A glass measuring cup and a fork
- Good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- About twelve to fifteen homegrown tomatoes (any size, as long as they are ripe, they can be over ripe, as long as you cut out any bruising, buggy spots, etc); if you are using plum tomatoes, then double it
- Sea Salt and Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
- Fresh Basil; Three to four FULL handfuls (like you are grabbing a bouquet of flowers/handful); wash, pat dry and roll up and just do a rough chop
- Three large heads of garlic; crushed and chopped fine
Wash, pop off the tops and slice tomatoes fairly thin (seeds, pulp and all). Place them on the cookie sheet to cover (it's totally fine if they overlap, just shove them on there)
Put your basil and chopped garlic in your glass measuring cup and put in enough Extra Virgin Olive Oil to cover the basil/garlic; then add about another quarter of a cup. Mix this up with your fork.
Start to pour this mixture using your fork to spread it out evenly over the entire cookie sheet of tomatoes. Don't be afraid to mash them down, stir stuff in a bit; you can't hurt anything.
Put your oven on the lowest temp possible (make sure it clicks and it's actually on if you have an older model like me!).
At this point, I typically add a ton more olive oil THEN Sprinkle the cookie sheet generously with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.
Put the tomatoes in your oven, clean up your kitchen and go to bed. (Never go to bed with with dishes in the sink and a dirty kitchen!)
In the morning, your house will smell like an old fashioned Pizzeria, but what you have made is well worth it...trust me!
Your tomatoes will be done, so take them out of the oven and let them cool off.
At this point, you have a few options for storage and even more for usage!
First, I recommend draining off the olive oil and saving it in a small glass jar, as the rich flavor of this is so good and you wouldn't want to waste it. It will be ready for you to use for a salad dressing or to saute/fry something.
I usually keep my first few batches in a large clean glass jar in the fridge; this way I have easy access to use them whenever.
Other storage options are to simply freeze these in a medium size freezer bag; flattened down, so they freeze faster and are easy to store; this way, when you want some it is so easy to just break off what you need, while not needing to 'thaw' an entire bag.
I honestly cannot tell you what kind of storage life these have; because we go through them so fast. I do know that I try to make enough in the freezer to have throughout winter/early Spring and we've not had any problem with spoiling.
Okay; so besides standing over your stove trying not to burn the roof of your mouth as you eat these irresistible treats, while standing in your pjs...these are other ways you can eat/use this recipe...
- Add to egg dishes
- Add to bistro style sandwiches
- Add to your salads or salad dressings
- Add to your pizzas (homemade of course!)
- Add to some hot Penne pasta (with roasted asparagus and goat cheese crumbles...Mmm!)
- Stuff snapper with them!
- Eat them straight out of the jar
Don't have tomatoes, basil, garlic in your garden? GO directly to the closest Farm, Roadside stand or Farmer's Market and buy basket loads! Not sure if you have one near you?
Visit: http://www.pickyourown.org/
Enjoy your Tuesday!
*Recipe from my book in progress