Slow Roasted Tomatoes

This entry should really be titled "How I Spent My Saturday Night". On Saturday morning, I was scrolling through my reader and this article over at The Kitchn about slow roasting tomatoes caught my eye. Then later in the day I went to a class called the Jam Session at Breadbar which was all about making jams and preserving the summer harvest. So naturally, when I got home I had preserving on the brain. I realize that living in Southern California I'm pretty lucky to get produce long after it's disappeared from other regions, but it's nice to know that I can have good tomatoes in the middle of February if I want. For the first few hours of cooking, I checked on the tomatoes every hour. Then it got late and I had to go to bed. Around 7AM I woke up from a dream that my tomatoes were burning. Of course they weren't. I hardly needed a pot holder to remove them from the oven. I couldn't resist eating a couple right out of the oven. I left the skins on because I like the skins, but I suppose most people remove them while the tomatoes are still warm. They were so good and full of concentrated tomato taste. I used a tad too much salt so when I actually use them in a recipe, I will just have to remember to use a little less salt, but otherwise they were great and I am so excited to do this again over the next few weeks.

Slow Roasted Tomatoes
(Adapted from Kitchen Parade)

2 pounds Roma tomatoes, halved
1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Mix of dried herbs. I went with oregano, thyme and Italian seasoning
Unpeeled cloves of garlic
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Drizzle a rimmed baking sheet with the olive oil and sprinkle with the herbs and salt.

Rub each cut side of the tomato in the oil and herbs and place them face down on the baking sheet in a single layer. Tuck in the garlic between the tomatoes. Sprinkle the tomato tops with salt and pepper.

Roast for 10-12 hours. Let cool and remove skins if desired. Use within 2-3 days or freeze.