These are celestial and a cinch to make. Oven-roasted tomatoes are the next best thing to the Tomaisin, a tomato that—“Look, Ma, no hands!”—dries on the vine, developed by Dr. Arthur Schaffer of the Volcani Center in Israel. Orange Banana and Speckled Roman tomatoes are as sweet as apricots when oven-roasted and are perfect for sandwiches or with mozzarella. Larger plum tomatoes require longer roasting.
Yield: 20 tomato halves
10 San Marzano tomatoes (or other small- to medium-size dry red plum or pear tomatoes)
2 tablespoons Garlic Oil (page 239)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped thyme
1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
2. Cut the tomatoes in half and put them skin side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the garlic oil and season with the salt and pepper. Sprinkle the thyme over the top.
3. Roast until they have wilted and shrunk by half. This should take 2 to 3 hours.