Let’s get cookin’ with cookie

Do you hear that boiling pot of goodness? Can you smell the heady scent of the amalgamation of garlic, onions, celery, basil and tomatoes simmering away? The end product of an entire day of blanching, peeling, seeding, chopping what seems to have been thousands of tomatoes??—(truth be told it was probably 40). What does one do at this time of season when there seems to be just too much from the vine for one family to eat?? Get creative, that’s what!!!

There is the evening salad…a little snippet of herbs, a handful of fresh peas, a splash of white balsamic or champagne vinegar, a good dousing of a smooth extra virgin olive oil, sprinkling of sea salt, a little cracked pepper and voila

Or there is the oven dried plum tomatoes that can be served as a lovely little appetizer stuffed with a little goat cheese or simply chopped and served over pasta or saved for later, packed away in a jar of olive oil stored in the fridge……

Line a baking pan with parchment paper or foil and spray with Pam or simply rub with olive oil

Preheat the over to 250º F. Slice 20 (or in my case, 50 or so) plum tomatoes in half lengthways, removing the seeds. This is easily done by hand.

Place cut side up. Sprinkle with a little sugar, salt, cracked pepper, drizzle with olive oil and add slivers of sliced garlic and rosemary sprigs.

Place in the oven and roast away for approximately 3 hours. I turned mine after an 1.5 hours. Roast until shriveled (when the skin looks a little prune like)

Remove and cool either serving stuffed with goat cheese and topped with a sprinkle of chives or thyme for a colorful and flavorful appetizer–or chop, tossing on top of homemade pizza, or store in a clean glass jar, covering with olive oil and store in fridge till ready to use—they will last about 2 weeks or so in fridge.

So until next time when we discuss what to do with all that squash, enjoy those lycopene rich tomatoes