Roasted Cherry Tomatoes {Two Ways}

My brother-in-law was recently commenting how he was finding it hard to find sun-dried tomatoes here in Canada. I knew what he meant – I too had searched when I first moved here for sweet and juicy tomatoes in oil rather than the dried ones in a packet which I find tough, super chewy and not at all like the sun-dried tomatoes I expected or was used to getting in the UK. So when I next saw a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil I immediately bought it for him without thinking. But then it occurred to me....why not make my own! Now of course with the climate here in Canada (although it has been beautiful the past few weeks) I would need something a little warmer than the sun so I made up a batch of slow roasted cherry tomatoes. It takes a little bit of time and yes it does mean the oven is on for 3 hours but it's at a very low temperature, and believe me, it's worth it! The end result is the sweetest, juiciest tomato you could ever imagine – so sweet, it's like candy! Needless to say he was more than delighted when I turned up on his door step with a jar of them for him!

A couple of weeks later I fancied some more but I didn't have 3 hours to spare so I made a faster version which only took 45 minutes. The end result isn't quite as intensified but it is a great substitute when you are short on time!

Either way both of these versions are delicious but I would recommend if you have the time try the slow-roasted version first. These tomatoes can be used for so many things so it's not a bad idea in the summer to keep a jar in the fridge. Serve them as part of an antipasti plate, on toasted ciabatta with goats cheese, in salads, stuffed in chicken and of course tossed through pasta – it's a fast and easy way to transform any dish. And if you're really looking for something a bit different you could whizz them up in food processor and turn them into a sweet roasted tomato paste ready to be tossed through hot spaghetti for a really special but simple meal.

Slow-roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes

Garlic cloves

Olive oil

Maldon Salt

Preheat the oven to 275F/ 140C. Cut the tomatoes in half and put them on a baking tray, cut side up. Add a few cloves of garlic – still in their skins to the tomatoes then drizzle everything with some olive oil. Finish with a good sprinkling of sea salt then slowly roast for 3 hours until they have shrunk down and their flavour has intensified. Leave to cool then if not using pop into a jar and top up with olive oil – either extra virgin, or a mix of extra virgin and ordinary olive oil. Store in the fridge and use as needed.

**If you like you can also scatter over some fresh thyme or rosemary sprigs when roasting the tomatoes. It had been my intention to add some thyme to this batch, but I was distracted and apparently too excited to get them into the oven that I forgot to go and pick some thyme from the garden! Oh well - next time!

'No time to slow-roast' Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes

Garlic cloves

Olive oil

Maldon Salt

Preheat the oven to 300F/ 150C. Cut the tomatoes in half and put them on a baking tray, cut side up. Add a few cloves of garlic – still in their skins to the tomatoes then drizzle everything with some olive oil. Finish with a good sprinkling of sea salt then roast for 45 minutes. Leave to cool then if not using pop into a jar and top up with olive oil – either extra virgin, or a mix of extra virgin and ordinary olive oil. Store in the fridge and use as needed.