roasted tomatoes.

as you all might well know - i am now a tomato farmer.

okay not really.....but i sure feel like one with all these gosh darn tomatoes hanging around.
i still can't believe how well my plants are doing and how dripping with fruit they are.
{*note to self: do not attempt to also plant and grow grass in area right in front of said tomato plants. not a wise idea.}
it's amazing having all this bounty at our finger tips and also how extremely convenient.
there's only one problem.....

you have to find something to do with them all!!
i had forgotten about that.

so my first order of business was to sit down with an open-faced tomato and mayo on toast and brainstorm the likely uses for our pirate booty.

of course use it in salads.
a salsa for sure.
and yes toss it in a pan and do a quick sautee for pasta. duh...
there always has to be a bowl on hand just for snacking.
they would taste good on a toothpick garnishing a ceaser...yum!
and roasted.
definitely roasted.

i put my plan in motion and 4 hours later the house was filled with the sweet aroma of tomatoes.
it was screaming summer at us.
it was comanding dinner.
it was right on the money.
it was making my mouth water.

i now have a jar on hand in the fridge - after resisting the temptation of running to the store for a baguette to slice up, toast, rub garlic all over and pile high the slices of the tomatoes and, to subsequently, lick the precious juices that spilled off from my fingers - so i can stare at it's beauty and snack on slowly till the summers end.
i think the next harvest will wind up like this one.
who needs another spaghetti sauce?!
not me.

oven roasted tomatoes.

grape, cherry or roma tomatoes.
olive oil.
cracked black pepper.
fresh thyme leaves - slightly chopped.

pre-heat your oven to 225 degrees F. line a baking pan or two {depending on how many you have} with parchment paper. set aside.

now wash and slice up your tomatoes. you want to slice them in half lengthwise so they are more slender then thick. place them on your pans, seed side up. generously drizzle them with olive oil, cracked pepper and thyme leaves. if you have garlic cloves hanging around toss some of those on the pan at the same time - not peeled - kills two birds with one stone.

once your oven is preheated, place your pan{s} in the oven and leave for a minimum of three hours. you can leave for a little longer if you want a richer flavour.

once the three hours is up, or when they look their best to you, remove from oven. let them cool slightly and then enjoy!

if you want to save some for later, place them in a jar and drizzle them with olive oil {some people suggest completely covering them but i didn't find that necessary} and refrigerate.

**also if you are about to make a salad and there are leftover oil dripping in your pans use that oil as the base to your dressing. delish!

quick sausage and roasted tomato pasta.

first you want to get your pasta rolling. start your water and add 350 grams of your favorite pasta - we use whole wheat spaghettinni - and cook according to the box. while this is cooking heat a large skillet over medium heat. add a few glugs of olive oil, let heat up slightly, and add your sausage. prick your sausage while in the pan. depending on the thickness of your links, cook for a bout 10 minutes, tossing them around in the pan in the meantime. remove from pan and slice them up on an angle to get many pieces. toss them back in the pan. now add your roasted tomatoes {either fresh from the oven or straight out of the jar in your fridge} and sautee those together for about 5 minutes. {if your sausage wasn't quite cooked through this is where you finish it off}. meanwhile, drain and rinse your pasta {yes i rinse!} reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water. once you see that your sausage is cooked or that you see a good marriage between the tomatoes and sausage {some of my tomato skins slipped off and this is the point where i took them out}, add the pasta water and cook down a bit. add your pasta, toss all together {in the pan} and serve. don't forget the parmesan!!