Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

Sometimes I write posts that never get published. They just sit there forgotten and lonely, branded by the orange letters that scrawl out "draft". What is normally a benign word, signifying something saved for further review, seems more like a death sentence. Sometimes these forgotten words make just a sentence or two but sometimes they are whole posts long and detailed. They are stories and recipes I had every intention of releasing into the blogosphere but just got lost in the mix of things. Maybe it's because I hadn't yet typed the recipe or maybe I didn't upload the pictures right away. Sometimes I'm unhappy with the pictures and wait till I make the recipe again or maybe I just lost interest, as I do with so many things and moved on to a new post, a new recipe. Many times I don't revisit these abandoned posts - I'll reread them just a couple days later and they seem like old news. Eventually I say my goodbyes and set them free with a click of the delete button. But every now and then, just once in a while, I'll revisit them. It could be that the recipe is just too good not to share or the experience returns for a second round and suddenly my words no longer taste like stale bread as they roll off my tongue. I think in this case it's a combination of the two.

On my 9 hour flight between New York and Budapest I read a book by Molly Wizenberg called "A Homemade Life". The whole thing. I dog-eared page after page to remind myself of the recipes I wanted to make when I returned home 3 weeks later and sure enough the first one I made was for slow roasted tomatoes. They are deliciously simple and so versatile you'll want to make a big batch. Mix them into pasta,  eat them with fresh mozzarella, toss them in a salad, add them to you sandwich or take Molly's recommendation; turn them into pesto. Whatever you do, just promise me you'll give them a chance okay?

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

The coriander is optional and could be left out altogether or replaced with dried basil, oregano, caraway seeds or cumin. Makes 40 Halves

20 Roma Tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon ground coriander (optional)

Salt

Pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees

Cover two baking sheets with tin foil and set aside

Toss the halved tomatoes with olive oil, coriander

Line them up on the baking trays and sprinkle with a few hefty pinches of kosher salt

Grind a generous amount of fresh black pepper over the top

Place the trays in the oven and roast for 4-6 hours.

The tomatoes when the edges are shriveled but the centers are still moist and they are about half of their original size

Refrigerate in and airtight container for up to a week.