GWEN’S SLOW ROASTED TOMATOES

My friend Gwen served these with little toast of French bread and goat cheese and I just loved them. We have some tomatoes (the volunteer plant growing miraculously in 3 inches of soil by the driveway) that don’t have the best texture, so I thought they’d be good candidates for this, which turns OK tomatoes into something really good: it does away with any texture imperfections and intensifies the flavor.

I used them instead of zucchini in LITTLE ZUCCHINI PUFFS, which was fantastic. Then I stored the extras in a jar with a bit of olive oil poured on top and then used them tonight in SIMPLE VEG AND GOAT CHEESE PASTA. Just make sure you don’t use tomatoes with tough skins.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Core and cut tomatoes in quarters or eighths. Spread out on a rimmed, parchment lined baking sheet, toss with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast about 2 hours or until they shrivel, turning once or twice.

Cool slightly and use as above, or be creative!