Friday, June 30, 2006

Slow-roasted Baby Roma Tomatoes

Weekend Herb Blogging is back home with Kalyn and I thought I might just make some time for Thyme.

thyme© by haalo



Thyme is a perennial - a pungent woody herb with more varieties than you can count. The common Garden Thyme is the most popular, with probably lemon thyme coming in second. Thyme has been used as a therapeutic product - it can aid digestion & fights coughs and intestinal parasites. It's active ingredient is used in products such as Listerine and Vapour Rub due to it's anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. Romans also used thyme to relieve melancholy.

I've decided to use Thyme in a dish that takes time - baby Roma Tomatoes are flavoured with fresh thyme leaves and wafer thin slivers of garlic and then slowly roasted at a low temperature for a few hours to release their water content and intensify their flavour.

baby roma tomatoes© by haalo


You can apply this method to any tomato but I particularly like the baby Roma Tomatoes. I find they have a lot of flavour to begin with which only intensifies during the long cooking time. When cut in half, they are the perfect size to snack on.

Slow-roasted Baby Roma Tomatoes© by haalo


Slow-roasted Baby Roma Tomatoes with Thyme and Garlic

1 punnet/250g Baby Roma Tomatoes
fresh thyme
fresh garlic cloves, sliced very finely
olive oil
salt and pepper


Slice the tomatoes in half and place in a bowl, drizzle over with a little olive oil and a grind of salt and pepper, mix well and then place on a lined baking tray, cut side up.

Sprinkle over with fresh thyme leaves and then dot the tomatoes with the garlic slivers, adding some whole cloves to roast at the same time. Grind over a little more pepper and then place in a low oven 140°C/284°F.

Slow-roasted Baby Roma Tomatoes© by haalo


Cook for at least 2 hours or until the tomatoes have shrunk but still retain a little softness.

Slow-roasted Baby Roma Tomatoes© by haalo


To serve:

Place the tomatoes onto a plate and drizzle over with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar - makes a wonderful component of an antipasto platter.

You could also throw these in a salad or even toss through simple burnt butter pasta to add a flavour bullet.

7 comments

  1. Yum, yum. This looks just fantastic. I like the idea of tossing it with pasta too. Your photos are wonderful too.

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  2. Thanks again Kalyn - it's hard to take a bad photo when the produce is so lovely to begin with.

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  3. Hi Daave - putting them in risotto is an excellent idea.

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  4. AnonymousJune 10, 2007

    I have made these and put them in homemade macaroni and cheese or annie's white shells and chedder. I use grape tomatoes cut in half. Yum!

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  5. Hi Anon - that's excellent and sounds really delicious. Glad you enjoyed them!

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  6. Just made this and served on toasted french bread with fresh ricotta and fresh basil...yum

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