Vegetarian Recipes

Roasted Tomatoes

https://www.loveandlemons.com/roasted-tomatoes/

Have you ever tried roasted tomatoes? If you haven’t, I’m here to tell you that you have to make this roasted tomato recipe before summer ends. While I love using juicy fresh tomatoes in recipes like pico de gallo, Caprese salad, and panzanella, roasted tomatoes transform into something totally different. As they roast, they lose moisture, and their flavor intensifies. They come out of the oven chewy & tart, with a super-concentrated, intense umami flavor. These little guys are totally irresistible!

Make sure you roast a big batch – you’ll find endless ways to use them. Around here, we can’t get enough of them on pizza, in pasta, or on their own straight out of the oven!

How to Roast Tomatoes

Luckily, making oven-roasted tomatoes couldn’t be easier. All you need is olive oil, salt, and tomatoes. When you’re choosing tomato varieties, choose small to medium-sized ones. I especially like to roast cherry tomatoes, but grape tomatoes, or plum tomatoes work too. The hardest part is waiting for them to cook! Here’s how to roast them:

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Slice the tomatoes in half, and place them with their cut sides up in a single layer on the baking sheet.
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, and transfer the baking dish to the oven. Roast the tomatoes until they’re shriveled and browned around the edges. That’s it!

At 250 degrees, my cherry tomatoes took about 4 hours to get totally shriveled and brown around the edges. The time will vary depending on the size and juiciness of your tomatoes – roasted grape tomatoes can take as little as an hour, while larger tomatoes will need longer.

When I have time to let them cook, I love to do a really long, slow roast like this. But some days, I don’t have all afternoon to make roasted tomatoes. When I’m in a hurry, I roast them at 300 degrees to help them cook faster, or I’ll start at 250 and turn up the heat to 350 partway through, once the tomatoes have begun to wilt down. They come out great just the same! Just be sure not to start with too high a temperature – if the oven is too hot, the tomatoes will burst, not shrivel.

What To Do With Oven Roasted Tomatoes

With their concentrated umami flavor, roasted tomatoes are an excellent addition to pastas, salads, soups, tomato sauce, and more! Here are some of my favorite ways to use them:

How do you like to use roasted tomatoes? Let me know in the comments!

If you love these oven roasted tomatoes…

Try roasted red peppers, cauliflower, asparagus, beets, or delicata squash next!

Roasted Tomatoes

Total time

3 hours 10 mins

Author: Jeanine Donofrio

Recipe type: Component

3 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
Extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh thyme, optional

Preheat the oven to 250°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the cherry tomatoes cut side up on the baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh thyme, if using.
Roast the tomatoes until they’re well shriveled around the edges, 2½ to 3 hours. The time will vary depending on the size and water content of your tomatoes.

Note: to speed up the process, I often turn up my oven to 300 or 350 halfway through the roasting time. This allows the tomatoes to begin to dehydrate and then continue to roast. Too high of a temperature too early will cause them to burst instead of shrivel.

Vegetarian Recipes

CAULIFLOWER BOLOGNESE

“I want you to come watch the movie with us ON the couch, not be in the kitchen!”

I’ve been filling out this one-question-a-day journals for moms that I received for Christmas. It records a little thought or memory over the last year, and then starts again, so you can see how your answers change over a few years. One of the recent ones, prompted me to jot notes about what I am learning as a mom, and I found the question so general I was basically annoyed. I am a romantic, and also wildly pragmatic. In the span of a day I can tear up over the depths of love I feel for my kids, and also wish for them to have a mute button. We all have worlds within us; mothering pushing me into the corners of myself I am sometimes proud of or other corners ashamed of, but am I learning? Yes, every single day. Sometimes in the moment and other times after a particular season. But in 2021, my answer in the bullet journal was that I see my kids are wanting me to play with them. They aren’t registering all the service and shuttling and laundry and what it takes to pull off a week, they just want to play WITH me. It’s natural for me to move within lists and tasks and responsibilities and hustling, but playing is something I have to pay attention to. For them and for me. We usually do a family movie on Friday nights and my son (6.5), see quote above, pointed out that I don’t actually watch the movie, I tinker in the kitchen and he wants me in the couch cuddle. Flattered, and found out that I’d rather make granola than watch The Croods 🙂 So from annoyed, to passing on the question to fellow parents, what are you learning? Try not to be annoyed. Maybe circle back to it.

I published this recipe over on SKCC a few weeks ago and wanted it to live here. We’re trying to find more family-friendly vegetarian recipes (it’s easy for me to fill up on roasted veggies and big salads, not so much for the kids). This batch lasts us two meals – once with noodles, maybe half zoodles, and the second round on toast or english muffins with cheese melted on top, like a pizza sort of thing? It freezes well and is great to deliver to new parents.

CAULIFLOWER BOLOGNESE

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion – roughly chopped
3 cloves of garlic
sea salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 head of cauliflower (about ¾ lb. or 12 oz. riced)
1/2 cup of raw walnuts pieces
1/2 tsp. of Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. of fennel seeds – crushed
2 Tbsp. of tomato paste
2 Tbsp. of balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup of red wine (or broth of any sort, and double the vinegar to mimic the wine’s acidity)
28 oz. of canned, crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup of red lentils
red pepper flake to taste

For serving

12 oz. of pasta or choice, zoodles, etc.
parmesan
fresh, torn basil

Directions

In a large Dutch-oven or stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium low heat.

In a food processor, pulse the onion and garlic into smaller bits. Add them to the pot with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté to soften, about 3 minutes.

Pulse up the cauliflower florets to get a rice-like texture. Add the riced-cauliflower to the pot and sauté to soften, about 5 minutes.

Pulse the walnuts in the processor and add those to the pot along with the Italian seasoning, fennel seed, another few generous pinches of salt and pepper, tomato paste and balsamic vinegar. Sauté until fragrant.

Add the red wine, cook about 3 minutes, then add the crushed tomatoes, ½ cup water, lentils, pinch of pepper flakes and stir to combine. Turn the heat to low, put the cover ajar and let it simmer gently for 30-35 minutes. Turn off the heat, taste for seasoning and adjust.

Cook your pasta or zoodles according to instructions. Top with cauli Bolognese, grated cheese, fresh basil and enjoy!

The Bolognese will keep in the fridge for a week and can be frozen for a few months.