The preparation I’ll show you in this video is not the quickest or easiest way to use
up ripe tomatoes. But it is the most delicious. These tomatoes taste like tomato velvet. Each
bite is so decadent, so luxurious, it’s like the essence of late summer exploding
in your mouth.
I got this idea from the Gourmet Magazine about 15 years ago. I really miss Gourmet.
I still can’t get over the fact that Conde Nast picked Bon Appetit over Gourmet. Anyway,
back to tomatoes. If I remember correctly, Gourmet was publishing this concept as a French
technique, though don’t quote me on that because I don’t have the original magazine
anymore. But if anyone would come up with this kind of thing, it would be the French
cooks. What I love about them is the chutzpah to play god in the kitchen. They think they
can do better than nature. To them, nature is only a starting point, not the destination.
They remove everything imperfect and then concentrate all the best parts. That’s what
we are going to do with our tomatoes today.
Since this technique can transform any tomato into perfection, I wouldn’t use it on expensive
heirloom tomatoes. You want a tomato that’s ripe, but any variety will do.
Let’s cut an X into the bottom of each tomato and dump them all into boiling water for about
15 seconds. I should have probably done it in batches, but I like to live dangerously.
Get out the tomatoes and let them cool. This will make peeling your tomatoes very easy.
Why are we peeling them? Because the skin doesn’t taste good. Sure, it tastes ok on
raw tomatoes, but as the tomatoes cook, the skin gets worse and worse. Cut out the core
with a little knife.
Cut the tomato through the equator. And scoop out the seeds. I know -- very fussy. But the
seeds are not very pleasant texture wise. Yes, yes, I know the jelly around the seeds
is the most flavorful part, so I won’t throw it away. I’ll push it through a fine mesh
sieve using a ladle until all I have left are seeds. I discard the seeds and cool the
juice in the fridge until nice and cold. Fancy restaurants call this tomato water. Then I
add some yogurt or sourcream, season with salt and blend with a stick blender. It’s
the most refreshing cold summer soup. Let’s smash a few garlic cloves, but leave them
in their skins. We’ll add them to our roasting dish for aroma.
Wait, how did we get to this stage? Oh, yikes, I forgot to hit the record button. I am sorry.
I hate when that happens. Ok, I’ll just talk you through it. It’s nothing complicated.
I mixed 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar with ¼ tsp of sugar and 3 Tbsp of olive oil. I started
with my tomatoes sitting cut side up. And I poured about a teaspoon of this vinegar-oil
mixture into each tomato. I sprinkled the top with salt, flipped them over and sprinkled
the bottom with salt (I am going lightly here because this is my second time salting this
poor tomato). Then I doused my tomatoes with more oil. I’d say another ¼ cup for the
whole dish. You want the bottom of the dish to have a layer of oil about 2 mm deep. I
added the garlic, some oregano and thyme sprigs. And popped the whole thing into the middle
of 300 degree oven for one and a half hours.
Look at this gorgeous color we are starting to see. Your tomatoes will be very fragile
at this point, so you’ll need 2 spatulas to flip them. This is also a great opportunity
to rearrange them if necessary. The corners of your baking dish are the hot parts, so
that’s where you want to put your tomatoes that are the biggest or least cooked so far.
This is a great opportunity to snack on those herbs. If you want to use the garlic, remove
it at this point. It’s sweet and creamy now, but it will become hard if you leave
it in. I know because I left it in, so learn from my mistake.
Let’s give them another 40 minutes and then we’ll take a look. The temperature and time
really depends on your oven and your dish. 300 is the highest temperature I’d use because
I want them to cook low and slow. If you have time, you can go as low as 250F and give them
3-4 hours. At 40 minutes on the second side, mine were done. I know that it looks like
we burnt them, but don’t be fooled by the runoff tomato juices burning on the edges
of the baking sheet. The tomatoes themselves are nicely browned with only occasional charred
spots, which is not a bad thing if you ask me. I usually can’t help it and eat some
right out of the pan. And make sure you save all this tomato oil. It makes an incredible
bread dip.
Store both tomatoes and the oil in the fridge. They’ll last for about 10 days, but are
best if consumed within 5. I know these look like a condiment or a side dish. But they
are so complex and magnificent that I prefer to let them be the star of the show. My favorite
way to serve them is on toast as an appetizer. If you are looking for complete decadence,
add a slice of buffalo mozzarella. They are also delightful with delicate fish like halibut
or in vegan dishes. One of my favorite sandwiches is sauteed kale (I have a video on that, see
the link below) with these tomatoes and hummus on toasted bread. It’s a vegan umami bomb.
Here are more very detailed culinary tutorials for you to check out and if you are ever in
the Boston area, maybe I’ll see you in one of my classes.