Easy and Amazing Roasted Tomatoes

Today we’re making these easy breezy roasted tomatoes that will blow your mind. They’re perfect for topping pastas, pizzas—the options are nearly endless. You can also just eat them right off the pan with your fingers like I’ve been doing. Let’s get started.

Ingredients and Prep

My recipe calls for two and a half pounds of Roma tomatoes, but I happen to have like a bunch of Campari tomatoes and a couple other ones that were just hanging out in the fridge, so I’m gonna put them all together. This is a waste-not-want-not situation and they’ll work fine. I’m going to give them a wash and then cut them in half over a bowl. Just use your fingers and squeeze out some of that liquid and the seeds. We want to end up with like a nice reservoir to hold in all the flavors we’re going to be packing in. Repeat that process until all of your tomatoes are prepped and ready.

Our tomatoes are halved and the juices are all squeezed out. This is so good for cooking, so don’t throw it away—promise me—it’s going to be amazing in any sauce. Let’s get our baking pan and then arrange all the tomatoes cut-side up. These roasted tomatoes are going to be so delicious, and you’ll enjoy them cold, warmed up. You can add them to your favorite recipe or, you know, have them in a salad, eat them alone as a side dish.

Adding Aromatics

Setting that aside now and we’re going to slice up some shallots. Chop off the tops and bottoms of some shallots and we’re going to peel the skin off so it’s just that beautiful purple underneath. Any parts that you see turning papery, those can get discarded as well—they will not be delicious. As you slice them up, just place them onto your baking sheet next to the tomatoes. I love using shallots in my salad dressings; they are so delicious, very similar to onions but a little bit milder.

One more bit of prep: we’re going to be popping a whole garlic clove into each of those tomatoes. Just trimming the bottom off of each of these garlic cloves, and then we’re going to give them a good smash and pop them in. A nice smash helps to take that skin off and also releases a lot of oils. Once it’s smashed, just pop it in. For this batch, you’ll probably be using most of two heads of garlic, so be forewarned and buy a hat. If you have a giant clove of garlic, you can split it up into two so it’s more manageable, especially if your tomatoes are on the smaller side.

Seasoning

Okay, it looks like all of my tomatoes are covered. Nice—we’ve set the scene for some serious magic. So let’s sprinkle this with three tablespoons-ish of olive oil. Just make sure everything is getting at least a sprinkle, especially those garlics. I’m using a heavy Mediterranean tablespoon with my olive oil. I feel like every single recipe lies about how much oil and butter to use.

Now we’re gonna sprinkle this with about two tablespoons of a balsamic or red wine vinegar. This is a nice aged balsamic, so it’s going to be a much more controlled sprinkle—so beautiful. Now it’s time for about three quarters of a teaspoon of salt; just make sure it’s evenly distributed. I’m using about two teaspoons of herb de Provence, but you can really use any herb mixture that you enjoy. It’s raining herbs! Add some pepper, as much as you’d like, and we’re finishing this off with some freshly chopped fresh thyme—one of my favorite herbs. All this will take these tomatoes from bland to blam.

Roasting and Serving

These will go into the oven at 375 for about 50 minutes. This is actually amazing as a side dish; it could be like a perfect buffet item. If you wanted to freeze it, pop it into a very heavy-duty resealable bag, squeeze the air out—it’s good for like a few months, maybe up to six. If you want to put it in the fridge, same deal—good for a week. Really nice to pop onto pizzas, top your pastas with them, or you can just blend it up into a pasta sauce.

This can be served in a beautiful tray; if you’re doing that, add some little fresh basil—it’ll give you some visual interest, and, you know, basil and tomato is just delicious. I’ll be taste-testing one for you. That is like candy—my gosh, that’s really good. Just make this—make it now, make it often. You are going to love it.