Slow roasted tomatoes

I have been a pretty bad blogger lately.  I could tell you about lingering flues and essays and a seemingly endless number of birthdays and all manner of things that you don't care about, but suffice it to say I have been very negligent of this blog.  I didn't even post about the Parkville Ladies' and Gentlemen's Club.  I do want you to know that I made all those things, and they were all devoured.  Unfortunately I made most of them after midnight on work nights and completely forgot to take photos.

But never fear, I have a plan.  A plan to make up for it.  It involves a flurry of cooking this weekend, all of which I pledge to put up here.  And it starts with these: Slow roasted tomatoes.

Ingredients

• Vine ripened tomatoes, or any big juicy firm red variety 
• Good quality olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Sea salt
• Cracked pepper 

Let's start by saying that this recipe is easy. Stupidly easy. All it requires is that you are about the house, because you want these suckers to cook for a loooooong time.  The longer and slower they cook, the more the flavours concentrate.  You can't really get this recipe wrong, but you can certainly get it right.  The most assured way to kick arse is to use really good quality ingredients.  Since all the flavours are concentrating during the slow roasting, this is one recipe where stand out ingredients will make a big difference.  So try to get extra virgin, cold press oil, a good vinegar, and good quality salt.  Let's face it, these things are all awesome to have around anyway.  The vinegar is the best bit.  It caramelises during the roasting and adds an extra sticky sweetness to the tomatoes.

So, heat your oven to 120 C.  Chop your tomatoes into quarters and place them in a large mixing bowl.  Pour a generous drizzle of oil and vinegar over them, and then add liberal quantities of salt and pepper.  Toss them in the bowl.  My preferred way to do this is to lift the bowl with both hands and swoosh it out quickly, away from my body and flicked upwards - the tomatoes will flip over themselves and coat themselves evenly in the mixture without bruising, and minimising the amount of oil used.  This is also a really good way to oil potatoes before roasting.

Place the tomatoes in lined pans and put them in the oven.  Leave them there for four or five hours. Done. Easy. Delicious. High five.

Use this little morsels in pasta sauces, risotto, on antipasto platters, in sandwiches.  I had some with Persian fetta on a fresh bagel for breakfast, and it was divine.  To store them, seal them in an air tight container and put them in the fridge.