This recipe is the epitome of simple, savory deliciousness. A confit of baby tomatoes slowly cooked in their own juices with garlic, herbs, and olive oil is scrumptious served on ricotta-spread toast, over fish or eggs, tossed with pasta, or featured on pizza, poultry, or meats.
Slow roasting transforms ordinary tomatoes, even those not quite in their prime, into concentrated pockets of flavor. The garlic, meanwhile, softens into a luxurious, spreadable, creamy texture. This versatile recipe lets you personalize it with any herbs you love and adjust the garlic to your preference – go bold or keep it mild.
Arliano Update (Aggiornamento Arliano):
The garden is prepped for a fantastic 2024 season. Irrigation and other essentials are in place, and the clay soil has been enriched with both manure and calcium. I’ve finished the first round of planting, with a mix of vegetables and some bee-friendly blooms. There are four types of tomatoes (both seedlings and seeds), sweet red peppers, eggplant, okra, flat pole beans, three onion varieties (Tropea torpedo, Tropea round, and sweet yellow), leeks, garlic, zucchini, and zinnias.
This year, we’re trying something new for the beans and tomatoes: open netting for them to climb on instead of the usual (and time-consuming) bamboo stakes and string. Fingers crossed it works well, and even better, that the netting is reusable.
Our drip irrigation hoses have done well for about three seasons, but even with careful storage they’re showing signs of wear with some rot and leaks. Looks like we’ll need to replace them all or invest in a more durable system next year. On a brighter note, in three weeks I’ll be planting the second round of zucchini, along with butternut squash, other squash varieties, another row of okra, cardoons, and cabbage.
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Tomato Confit
Ingredients
- 2 pints (about 24 ounces) cherry, grape, pear, or other type of small tomatoes, washed and dried
- 5 -8 garlic cloves, peeled and gently smashed
- Enough olive oil to come halfway up the sides of the tomatoes in the baking dish (about 3/4 cup to 1 cup). I used an 8-inch X 8-inch (20 X 20cm) baking dish and 1 cup of oil)
- Herbs of your choice (examples: two sprigs of rosemary, 10 sprigs of thyme, a few torn leaves of basil or tarragon, a tablespoon of fresh oregano leaves, etc.)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes or powder (optional)
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 275 F (135C)
- Wash and dry the tomatoes. It’s your choice if you want to keep the stems on or not (but stems should be removed prior to eating). They look pretty and photogenic if you’re serving them on the same day, otherwise they are a little tedious to remove later
- Place the tomatoes in a baking dish just large enough to hold them, then add enough olive oil into the dish to come halfway up the sides of the tomatoes (about 3/4 cup to 1 cup). This sounds like a lot, but part of this confit recipe is using and enjoying the oil, not straining it out
- Snuggle in the garlic cloves and herbs
- Place the baking dish in the oven uncovered and baste the tomatoes and garlic, if needed, about every 30 minutes. To soften, but not destroy the tomatoes, takes about 75 to 90 minutes. Check often near the end of the cooking time to ensure that the tomatoes still hold form and aren’t burning. Remove from oven and remove the herbs. Let cool, then place in sealable jars if not using right away. This will keep in the refrigerator for about a week and a half – longer if you keep the tomatoes and garlic submerged under oil. Bring to room temperature before using
Greg Nelson Cooks 
sounds delicious. Anything with roasted tomatoes is going to taste great. Looking forward to hearing about your garden with future updates
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Thanks so much for this! Something new and tasty to make with all my tiny tomatoes. Just FYI, I think you mean “tedious” and not “fastidious.” [Can’t help it–I’m an editor!]
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Fastidious… That’s funny because it’s a “false friend” between English and Italian. In Italian fastidious means annoying and tedious. Ha!
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Thanks for letting me knowâI love that stuff, funny language differences. ð And apologies for being so picky, but I thought youâd rather know than not.
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