Roasting Tomatoes

I don't know how many of you are suffering an overabundance of tomatoes as I am but I thought it was time to post a little recipe for roasting tomatoes. Depending upon the time of year and how much rain you've had in your area fresh tomatoes can lose some of their zip and really do need to be punched up a bit and roasting them is the perfect solution and it is extremely straightforward to boot. Roasting intensifies the flavors and can turn ho hum tomatoes into a glorious dish.

Here is a trick for a simple roasted tomato sauce that you can serve over pasta.

Peel, core, seed and chop about 3 pounds of whole ripe tomatoes. Put them in an oven proof, non reactive container and drizzle with a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. If you are a garlic fan a couple of cloves of thinly slice garlic is a great addition. Salt and pepper to taste and if you like things a little spicy a pinch or two of dried red pepper flakes is very traditional. Put these uncovered in a 350 degree oven for about an hour. Remove from the oven and mix in a few tablespoons of chopped fresh basil or lacking that a tablespoon of dried. Serve over pasta or even good sliced bread toasted with a bit of olive oil. Rustic but full of flavor and, as you can see, not very difficult.

BTW peeling tomatoes is quite easy if you have a little boiling water. In the case above I would just put the tomatoes in a metal mixing bowl and put on the kettle with about a liter of water and bring it to the boil. Pour the boiling water over the tomatoes and let them stand for 20 to 30 seconds and then run them under some cool tap water until you can handle them. The peels will slip off easily. Peeling and seeding the tomatoes is a pain but most tomato skins don't react well to cooking and get bitter to boot and the same with the seeds. Neither of them bring much to the flavor party.