We Are Sooo Doing Oven-Roasted Tomatoes Again!

Last night I used our oven-roasted tomatoes for the first time.  This year was the first time we've roasted tomatoes, then preserved by freezing (with juice) in freezer bags.  Hauled a bag out a couple of days ago, largely 'cause it was firmly stuck to a jar of goats milk!  I guess I hadn't wiped off the bag well enough, or it was still a little warm; it was very well adhered to the glass jar and wasn't letting go. So I defrosted the two together, in an ice cream pail just in case there was any leakage.

Holy Smokes - was that the closest I've come to the taste of fresh, summer tomatoes in the dead of winter!  We are absolutely doing this again this coming year!  Highly recommend it!  We have homemade tomato sauce, and it's pretty good, even if I do say so myself.  But the flavor of the frozen oven-roasted tomatoes was fabulous!  Our tomatoes were a mix of Romas, Margeritas and the heirloom Brandywine.  I made a simple sauce by sauteing some onions and garlic, then added the tomatoes and seasoning.  I am fortunate to have a lovely stash of tarragon shared by our CSA members Tammy and Mike, which added a nice flavor with a touch of sweetness.  Toward the end, I added a bit of homemade chicken stock, because it was getting a little thick.  I did cut up a few piece of tomato skin, which were a little large and stringy.  Total time was the amount of time needed to boil the water and cook the pasta!

This coming season, I think we'll follow the directions for roasting the tomatoes from here at Smitten Kitchen.  She's slow-roasting them at a low temperature, which is not what we did and it was a little warm in the house the day we processed our tomatoes.  Just some olive oil and salt and pepper, then you're free to spice your sauce any way you want.  These tomatoes will be nice for a style of bruschetta, maybe in a quiche, blended for a dip...so many things.  Storage in freezer bags does not take up a ton of freezer space as they stack very nicely.  Just learn from my lesson and make sure the bags are well dried off, or stack them after they freeze!