The first time I ever made cherry tomato confit was out of necessity. I was up at the cottage with my extended family. We cook A LOT up there and go through A LOT of food. There are local farmers everywhere and the produce is incredible in the summer. We go through berries and tomatoes in the summer as if it’s our last chance before scurvy sets in. We reap the benefits all winter long because we freeze and confit all kinds of things.

We were in need of cherry tomatoes and my mum sent my dad out to buy some. You first have to understand that my dad likely does not know where the refrigerator is, and for sure would not know how to boil a pot of water. Sending him out for groceries is could result in unimaginable resutls!

Suffice it to say, he came home with a pallet of cherry tomatoes. A whole pallet! I’m not kidding. Seriously, he came home with enough tomatoes to feed a small army. What to do? I made a lot of tomato sauce that week and many jars of cherry tomato confit. My neighbours and friends were thrilled and my dad, well he was in heaven.

I learned to use them for everything that week. They became a topping on every crostini, focaccia and pizza. I mixed them into a cooked pasta dish with the juicy tomato-ey olive oil glistening with deliciousness. We grilled steaks, fish, chicken and tofu with only salt and pepper and smothered the confit all over the cooked protein. I served them in the center of a hummus or labneh plate. I made a cauliflower crust and smothered it with the scorched tomatoes. I spread the garlic bits on a baguette and we dipped fresh artisanal bread in the oil.

It doesn’t get any better my friends, trust me.

Now, it obviously is better to make these in the summer when the tomatoes are in full bloom but here in Toronto, we get really nice cherry tomatoes all year round, so just do it! Cooking the tomatoes in olive oil concentrates the tomato flavour and the juices that run from the tomatoes are bursting with that pungent wonderful taste.

Just remember, it does not matter how many tomatoes you make, just make sure the dish you choose can hold the tomatoes comfortably and that the oil mostly covers the tomatoes. So the next time you accidentally buy 35 pints of tomatoes, you will know what to do 🙂 .

Scorched Tomato Confit

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Servings 2 cups

Ingredients

1 pint ripe cherry tomatoes
3-4 cloves garlic sliced thinly
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the over to 425˚F.
In a small baking dish, I use a 8*8 pyrex dish, place the cherry tomatoes.
Slice the garlic thinly and scatter over the tomatoes.
Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for 25 minutes. The tomatoes will break down a little and release a lot of juices and will maintain most of their shape.
Let cool to warm or room temp before serving. The tomato juices will gel a little and be the perfect consistency for dipping pita into or serving on a crostini.