About a week ago, I had a bowl of cherry tomatoes to use up and I wasn’t in the mood for bruschetta or cucumber salad. I decided on a confit, and as it was cooking, it smelled so heavenly that I had plans to eat it immediately over pasta; yet, by the time it was done, I was running out the door, so I just popped it into a jar and into the fridge.  I’m so glad I did, because today I got to enjoy it with my friends Nadine, Stan & Kami who came over to visit.

Perfectly gorgeous weather, a nice hike in Ward Pound Ridge and a relaxy lunch on the back deck of cheese & fruit, crackers, preserves, one rather delectable tomato confit, and good friends. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Hope you are all having an equally wonderful holiday weekend.

Adapted from Tomato Confit in Daniel Boulud’s Cafe Cookbook, by Daniel Boulud & Dorie Greenspan

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Cherry Tomato Confit

INGREDIENTS

• about 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes (I used black cherry, some small yellows, and a few volunteers)
• 3 tbsp of a good, fruity olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1/2 tsp dried basil ( or 1/2 tbsp fresh, coarsely chopped)
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 1/2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves)
• freshly ground white pepper & sea salt
• 1/4 tsp raw sugar

METHODS

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
2. Drizzle about 2 tbsp of the olive oil over the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ casserole or half-sheet pan.  Swirl it about (or spread with your fingers) until it evenly coats the pan.  Sprinkle about half of the garlic, basil, thyme, and parsley over the oil.  Add a little salt & pepper.  Slice each tomato in half and place, cut side down, in the pan, squidging the tomatoes around a a bit to ensure that each tomato has a coating of oil. Using a pastry brush (or a spray bottle if you have one for the good stuff), lightly brush the tops of the tomatoes with the remaining olive oil.  Sprinkle remaining garlic, basil, thyme and parsley, and add the sugar and a little salt & pepper.
3. Roast the tomatoes, on the center rack of the 200 degree F oven, until they are very tender and fragrant, yet not falling apart, about 2 hours. Serve warm over pasta, at room temperature with crostini, or straight out of the fridge with crackers and cheese.

Yields about 1 and 1/4 cups; recipe can easily be doubled.

OPTIONS

1. Fresh basil and thyme would be delightful in this recipe; I just didn’t have any in the house. If using fresh herbs, increase the amount to about 1/2 tbsp of each.
2. Boulud’s original recipe called for peeled, plum tomatoes. I had cherry tomatoes to use up (that I was not about to peel), but also, I liked the peels in the confit; they gave it texture and color. His recipe also called for 20 plum tomatoes but similar amounts of oil & herbs; the amount of oil you use will be dictated more by the pan than the amount of tomatoes, so just use enough to cover your pan and the tops of the tomatoes. (He also suggested scooping out the tomato seeds with a tiny spoon; fun as that sounded, I decided to give it a miss.)
3. This is an easy way to extend the shelf life of cherry (or any variety) tomatoes by a week or two without having to can, freeze or dry them.

STORE

Refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.  Add a little olive oil to the top of the jar if all of the tomatoes are not under liquid in order to keep vegetables at their freshest.

SEASON

Summer.