A little over a year ago, we found ourselves in that annoying renter’s predicament — the one where you live in a rental that you actually like and in a neighbourhood that you adore, and then your jerk landlord decides she needs to move into your apartment because she sold her house to cash in on the hot Toronto housing market, and then couldn’t find a new home for herself, and even though she will probably move out in six months, she can legitimately and lawfully give you the boot. Aaand apparently I still have some residual feelings about this!
In any event, we are now in a rental that we still like, in a good neighbourhood, and we still have a tiny balcony to put our decaying-yet-somehow-functional BBQ, so we’re not complaining. Nonetheless, I found myself wistful the other day for the larger deck space — the kind that got enough afternoon sun for us to have one, blissful summer harvest of homegrown heirloom tomatoes. More on that here, where I also discuss the dark side of the homegrown tomatoes: a huge glut of fresh tomatoes in your house, pretty much all at the same time.
If this is something you’re experiencing, you’re probably looking for ways to use these puppies up. And while I can’t deny that garden-grown tomatoes are at their best when eaten raw or just drizzled with a little olive oil, sometimes you just need to ditch the salad and throw those tomatoes in the oven. Roasting tomatoes has long been a trick to revive those sad, flavour-barren winter tomatoes — so just imagine what this method would do for your summer ones.
While there’s merit in the slow-roasting method (which takes little effort but lots of time), I’ve found that even a quick roast in the oven can boost the sweetness of tomatoes, without sacrificing the moisture and texture of a well-ripened fruit. These oven-roasted tomatoes are a snap to put together, take only about 20 minutes in the oven and can be plated up in any number of ways: eat them on their own as a side dish (great with grilled or roasted meats), use them as a base for a tomato sauce, throw them in an omelette or spoon them onto a fresh, crusty baguette and serve with some nice cheese and olives.
Pro tip: If serving as a hot side dish, reduce about ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar to half its volume while tomatoes are roasting. Drizzle the reduced balsamic over top the tomatoes, grate some Pecorino or Parmigiano cheese over top and serve.
Oven-Roasted Tomatoes
Whatever tomatoes you have on hand, in whatever quantity you want
Olive Oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
Healthy pinch of kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Chopped, fresh herbs of your choice (basil, thyme and rosemary work well)
A note on quantities: 1 clove of garlic per pint of tomatoes should be fine. You can use about a tablespoon of leafier herbs per pint of tomatoes (basil, cilantro, parsley), but go easy on heartier, stronger ones like rosemary, thyme or sage.
1. Preheat oven to 425F. If you’re using small, grape or cherry tomatoes, you can leave them whole. Larger tomatoes can be cut lengthwise or quartered if they’re very large. Toss your tomatoes in a bowl, and add a few glugs of olive oil, tossing to coat lightly.
2. Add salt, pepper and herbs. Toss to combine.
3. In a large, shallow baking or roasting pan (or on a cookie sheet with a bit of a lip), arrange tomatoes in a single layer. Roast for about 20 minutes, until the skins begin to burst slightly. Allow to cool slightly before serving.
Sara Chan is a Toronto-based entertainment lawyer, food enthusiast, unprofessional home chef and even less professional food photographer. Her favourite food group is pork.