(alt title: When Three Tomato Plants Become Too Much of a Good Thing)
There are a few phrases that stuck with me after reading Beth Ables’ A Place Here cookbook zines, and “a glut of tomatoes” is one of them. Every summer, like clockwork, that phrase pops into my mind as I watch my countertop fill with backyard-grown tomatoes.
This year, I have three tomato plants that have somehow survived my lackluster care. Despite South Carolina's heat waves and my inconsistent watering, they’re producing… a LOT of tomatoes. My household can only eat so many, and I’ve already shared them with family, and neighbors, and friends.
Once you’ve given away as many as people will take off your hands, what do you do with all the tomatoes you’ve grown!?
That’s where this recipe comes in—simple, forgiving, and pulled straight from the pages of A Place Here, Volume 2. In many ways this isn't even a recipe as much as it's a reminder of what's possible when you might be feeling overwhelmed by a good thing.
The zine this recipe appears in captures the rhythms of summer, the way our kitchens swell with abundance as the seasons produce changes, and the joy of sharing and savoring what's right in front of us.
If you’re looking for what to make with too many tomatoes—or just want to feel like you're part of a long tradition of people figuring out how to enjoy summer’s bounty—this post is for you. You can tell from the wrinkled pages of my zine copy that this particular page has gotten a good bit of use!
Slowest Roasted Tomatoes
When a glut of garden tomatoes take over your kitchen counter, or you can't resist a sale, make this: a deep, rich ruby of tomato-ness. The result makes a virtually instant pasta sauce or drippy delicious burger topping. Basil, meet your new cool and more mature best friend.
Ingredients
an overwhelm of tomatoes, cored
salt and pepper
olive oil
Instructions
Preheat oven to 200°F. On a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper, arrange tomatoes in a single layer.
Drizzle generously with oil, sprinkle each with salt and pepper. Coriander is also wonderful here.
Bake 5-6 hours until the tomatoes sort of fall into themselves, the skin wrinkling and shrinking, their color concentrated.
After they cool, the tomato skins will slip off almost scandalously. Roasted tomatoes keep in the refrigerator for a week, or three months in the freezer.
Excerpted from A Place Here, Vol. 2 by Beth Brown Ables
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