alton brown’s slow-roast tomatoes

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ingredients
all
20 whole tomatoes
ripe, halved crosswise
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp fresh minced herbs
such as thyme, rosemary, and sage, could also use dried herbs, reduce amount by half
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp black pepper
course grind
baguette or other crunchy bread
optional
cookware
  • cookie sheets
  • large bowl
Again, we were in a predicament where we had too many tomatoes and not enough time to eat through the whole batch before it went bad. We had the Exploratorium’s Science of Cocktails event in a few days, then we were flying out to NYC the very next day.

This recipe is so simple, we whipped it up from memory. The measurements and herb mix don’t have to be precise; we usually make do with whatever we have on hand. The tomatoes keep for a month in the fridge and keep forever in the freezer. Our favorite way to eat these are with a piece of baguette. We simply cut the baguette to size, slap on some goat’s milk butter, throw on a slow-roast tomato, and then warm the whole thing in the oven. Since the tomatoes roast for about 10 hours, we usually prepare this before going to bed.

Adapted from Alton Brown’s book I’m Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking.
1
Preheat oven to 170°F or the lowest temp available. Line the cookie sheet with foil to facilitate clean up later.
2
Combine all the ingredients (except the bread) in a large bowl and mix with your hands.
3
Place the tomatoes close together, cut side up, on the cookie sheet. If there is extra room on the cookie sheet, fold up the ends of the foil to help contain the tomatoes.
4
Drizzle any remains from the bowl onto the tomatoes.
5
Roast the tomatoes for a minimum of 10 hours. If you make them overnight, you will wake up wondering who cooked you breakfast. Have a baguette or other crunchy bread on hand so that you can sample a slow-roast tomato fresh out of the oven.
source: Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for the Food