How to make an Italian cherry tomato confit
It's the season for ripe juicy tomatoes in Italy. But even if you only have access to the plasticy, tasteless tomatoes found in UK supermarkets, food writer Silvana Lanzetta shows us how to bring out their flavour and enjoy them Italian style.
A good way to go is to confit your tomatoes: that is, to bake them for a long time at very low temperature. By adding herbs and garlic, you’ll end up with delicious-tasting tomatoes.
For this recipe, you’re better off with cherry or baby plum tomatoes. Piccolo tomatoes are an excellent choice for this dish.
Cherry tomato confit is very easy to make, and its sweetness will especially please children.
Once it's ready, you can serve your scrumptious cherry tomatoes confit - scattered with parmesan shavings- as a tasty side for your meat, or as a topping for your bruschetta.
Ingredients for four portions:
500 gr of cherry tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
1 tbsp of dry oregano
20 gr of sugar
35 gr of extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Method:
-
Start by thoroughly washing the tomatoes, then dry them with a clean kitchen towel, and finally halve them.
-
Preheat the oven at 140°C/gas mark 1. Line an oven tray with greaseproof paper, then place the halved tomatoes on the tray, cut side up. Season to taste.
-
In a small bowl, mix the organo with the crushed garlic, adding a little olive oil to make a thich paste. If you like, you can prepare this paste a couple of hours in advance so that the flavours will mix properly, and it will enhance the tomato flavour even more. Spoon the mixture over each tomato.
-
Finally, dust everything with the sugar, and pour olive oil so to cover all the tomatoes.
-
Bake on the middle shelf for two hours until all the vegetable water has evaporated. Your cherry tomatoes are ready when they are slightly roasted, but not dry.
-
Serve your cherry tomatoes confit as you prefer, they are delicious both hot or cold.
TIPS:
Store your confit in an airtight containe in the fridge for up to one week. To conserve it for longer, you'll need to dry the tomatoes out even more, use double the sugar, and store them in a sterilised glass jar, completly covered in extra-virgin olive oil.
Silvana Lanzetta. Photo: Private
Silvana Lanzetta was born into a family of pasta makers from Naples and spent 17 years as a part-time apprentice in her grandmother’s pasta factory. She specializes in making pasta entirely by hand and runs regular classes and workshops in London.
Find out more at her website, Pastartist.com, including this recipe and others.
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A good way to go is to confit your tomatoes: that is, to bake them for a long time at very low temperature. By adding herbs and garlic, you’ll end up with delicious-tasting tomatoes.
For this recipe, you’re better off with cherry or baby plum tomatoes. Piccolo tomatoes are an excellent choice for this dish.
Cherry tomato confit is very easy to make, and its sweetness will especially please children.
Once it's ready, you can serve your scrumptious cherry tomatoes confit - scattered with parmesan shavings- as a tasty side for your meat, or as a topping for your bruschetta.
Ingredients for four portions:
500 gr of cherry tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
1 tbsp of dry oregano
20 gr of sugar
35 gr of extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Method:
-
Start by thoroughly washing the tomatoes, then dry them with a clean kitchen towel, and finally halve them.
-
Preheat the oven at 140°C/gas mark 1. Line an oven tray with greaseproof paper, then place the halved tomatoes on the tray, cut side up. Season to taste.
-
In a small bowl, mix the organo with the crushed garlic, adding a little olive oil to make a thich paste. If you like, you can prepare this paste a couple of hours in advance so that the flavours will mix properly, and it will enhance the tomato flavour even more. Spoon the mixture over each tomato.
-
Finally, dust everything with the sugar, and pour olive oil so to cover all the tomatoes.
-
Bake on the middle shelf for two hours until all the vegetable water has evaporated. Your cherry tomatoes are ready when they are slightly roasted, but not dry.
-
Serve your cherry tomatoes confit as you prefer, they are delicious both hot or cold.
TIPS:
Store your confit in an airtight containe in the fridge for up to one week. To conserve it for longer, you'll need to dry the tomatoes out even more, use double the sugar, and store them in a sterilised glass jar, completly covered in extra-virgin olive oil.
Silvana Lanzetta. Photo: Private
Silvana Lanzetta was born into a family of pasta makers from Naples and spent 17 years as a part-time apprentice in her grandmother’s pasta factory. She specializes in making pasta entirely by hand and runs regular classes and workshops in London.
Find out more at her website, Pastartist.com, including this recipe and others.
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