Garlicky Roasted Tomatoes with Miso Butter
Tomato season is a cult classic season. I look forward it every year because tomatoes are one of my absolute foods and it just feels so right to eat them during late summer. Tomatoes have been a big part of my diet for as long as I can remember. Rumor has it, that when my mother was pregnant with me, she had a wild craving for tomatoes and ate them daily throughout her pregnancy. At the age of six, Harriet the Spy became a big part of my life. Harriet’s favorite sandwich was a simple one, consisting of tomato and mayonnaise and I coveted the meal as my own. It became a summer time staple for long days at camp, where I wrapped them in tinfoil and ate them on the beach after a swim in the ocean. Whenever I think of these sandwiches now, I can still feel the grit of a rogue piece of sand caught in between my teeth after it inevitably blew in between my pieces of bread.
The other day, I stocked up on tomatoes. I felt like a mad woman, running up and down the tomato aisle, grabbing a handful and heading back to the scale to weigh them. I wanted them all. The colors, the shapes, the possibilities were endless in the moment and I felt crazed with tomato power. As soon as I got home, I tossed them in my favorite colander, gave them a rinse and got to work. Last month, a company called Made In, sent me the most beautiful stainless steel 4 quart saute pan. I didn’t realize that I could be so intensely in love with a pan before (just kidding, I did know that.) and I’ve been obsessed ever since. This saute pan in particular, transfers from stove top to hot oven beautifully, so I knew that it would be the perfect vessel for roasting my treasure trove of tomatoes.
Roasting tomatoes then freezing or canning them for later use, is such a wonderful way to take advantage of tomato season. I’m a big fan of canned tomatoes and it makes me so happy that I can make my own version for winter time soups and sauces. This particular batch didn’t last long though.. I slathered the tomatoes on grilled bread and topped that with Irish Swiss cheese, garlic scapes, baby lemon balm, salt and hemp seeds. All proving that heaven can be reached on a thick slice of toast.
Ingredients
2 pounds assorted tomatoes
5-6 cloves garlic, halved
4 tbs unsalted butter
2 tbs miso
6-8 sprigs fresh thyme
Cracked black pepper
Optional: add a tablespoon of raw sugar to offset the acidity of tomatoes
Method
Over medium heat, melt your butter. Once melted, add miso paste and gently stir together till the butter has browned. Preheat oven to 375 F. Turn burner heat down to low and add tomatoes.* Coat all tomatoes in the miso butter sauce, toss in garlic and thyme. Sprinkle with a generous amount of black pepper. Place, uncovered, in oven and roast tomatoes for at least one hour. You will be looking for the tomatoes to be browned and the liquid to have reduced by at least half.
Store tomatoes in a covered container in fridge. Tomatoes will keep for 5 days. Store in freezer bags and they will last up to 6 months.
*Cut big tomatoes in half or quarters. Leave cherry tomatoes whole.
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Thank you so much to Made In for my new pan! I love that their products are made in the US and how they keep their company so personal and quality.
