Tomatoes to me just smell of summer
I love the smell of them growing, of the stalks, of the green and ripe tomatoes both (and I'm looking forward to next weekend and having tomatoes straight from my parents' garden).
Add oregano - and they smell like a Mediterranean summer
And roasting tomatoes with oregano has got to be one of the most languid and evocative cooking smells ever.
So easy to do - but as with nearly everything very simple to make that relies on flavour, using the best tomatoes you can find is going to make all the difference. I admit to just getting mine at the supermarket but I did get the tomatoes on the vine that actually smell of the fruit.
Halve the tomatoes, cutting out the stalk if it looks a bit tough, and place on a baking tray. Drizzle over extra-virgin olive oil, some salt and black pepper, and some dried oregano.
Then roast in a low oven (Gas 4 / 170 degrees) for an hour.
About half an in to the cooking time, they started SINGING with the smell of tomatoes and oregano, making my whole flat smell amazing!
And that's it.
Once cooked, you can use them as part of an antipasta platter, or the base of a tomato sauce for pasta or pizza. Put them in pastry. Have them on toast. Eat them in a salad. Or even put them in a jar and give them as a gift.
What I did was make a really simple pasta dish for dinner
In a frying pan I softened some chopped onion and a clove of chopped garlic over a low heat in a little olive oil, then added the tomatoes, breaking them up with a wooden spoon.
No need to add extra seasoning as the tomatoes have so much flavour. When they started to bubble I added some de-veined prawns, a few chilli flakes and some halved (and stoned) black olives.
Right at the end, I threw in some fresh basil.
When it was hot right through, I mixed it with pasta and served with a green salad and my favourite dressing of olive oil, vinegar and Dijon mustard.
Tempted to make more today - they were so good!
Would love to hear what you make with roast tomatoes - do give them a try.
