You probably know by now that I’m all about simplicity, and never more so than in the summer! When produce is at it’s peak, it tastes amazing all by itself, so I’ve been guilty of eating tomatoes plain right off the vine all summer long. But… last weekend we went to this phenomenal Italian restaurant in Calgary (it’s called Mercato if you’re in the area), and they had semi-dried tomatoes in several dishes. If you haven’t had semi-dried tomatoes yet, well… they’re the best thing since sun-dried tomatoes – wait… they’re even better! Semi-dried tomatoes are still moist enough not to be chewy like sun-dried tomatoes, and they retain some of their fresh flavor somehow. They’re a burst of revelatory flavor that’s best tasted because there-are-no-words! These roasted tomatoes I have for you today are somewhere between fresh from the vine and semi-dried – they’re juicy, incredibly flavorful, and super quick to make. Not only that, but they double as a sauce for pasta or a topping for risotto! One of these days, I’m going to try my hand at actual semi-dried tomatoes because I think they would be an ideal way to preserve the summer bliss!
Now let’s jump right in and make these Rosemary Garlic Roasted Cherry Tomatoes step by step!
The key to this recipe is quality tomatoes – fresh from the vine, or from a local farmer’s market. If you can, try to find cherry tomatoes that aren’t hydroponic – the flavor just doesn’t compare! I used a mix of Yellow Pear, Sungolds, and Sweet 100’s.
I cut the garlic into thin slices to perfume the dish rather than the sometimes overwhelming punch you get from minced garlic. For the rosemary roughly chopped is fine – some small pieces mixed in with some bigger ones.
Toss the clean tomatoes together with the garlic slices, chopped rosemary, sea salt, and olive oil. I like to toss mine together right in the baking dish because I hate doing any extra dishes!
Then simply roast for 10 minutes and you’re done!
The cherry tomatoes get roasted just until they burst – they’re heady with flavor and fabulous with just about anything! I even used them one night as a sauce with Grain Free Eggplant Parmesan.
It was a nice flavor change having the rosemary in there instead of the usual basil! And if you’re looking for more recipes using tomatoes, definitely head on over to the recipe index.
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1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small clove garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon roughly chopped fresh rosemary
Wash and de-stem the cherry tomatoes.
In a 9″ pie plate, toss the cherry tomatoes with the rest of the ingredients.
Place in the oven and roast for 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes just begin to spilt.
Enjoy hot, warm, or cold out of the fridge!
