Best Thing Tomatoes are truly the easiest and best way to preserve all of your ripe tomatoes. This intense, concentrated puree of tomatoes, garlic, onions, and herbs gives serious depth of flavour to every dish its in and on.
My friend Caroline and I tend to talk food. We have ample opportunity to gab while our sons are in ballet class together.
We both drive from quite a distance for the kids to attend the conservatory; far enough away that it is not merely inconvenient for us to drive home while the dudes dance, but rather ridiculous. We use our time wisely.
She is a fiendishly talented baker/cake decorator and cook, and so we use our time to make each other horribly hungry by talking food. One day she shared an accidental success with me.
She had plunked a couple of trays of tomatoes she got for a song into the oven to roast them and then promptly forgot them. She went about her day, leaving the house and running errands until she realized that it had been hours upon hours since she put them into the heat.
When she took the trays out and saw the blackened areas around the edges of some very sad and dried out looking tomatoes, she thought she’d wasted the whole lot. In a fit of yankee thrift and ingenuity, she tossed the contents into the blender with a little balsamic vinegar and wine just to see if it could at least be salvaged to the point of edibility.
Not only was it edible, but Caroline had -according to her account- just discovered The Best Thing to Do with Tomatoes. Ever.
Best Thing Tomatoes? Really?
She brought me a sample. If anything, she had underrepresented the power of Best Thing Tomatoes.
It was intense. It was full of concentrated tomato paste. It was like tomato paste, if tomato paste were a seriously beautiful thing that people craved.
While she had been generous enough to give me enough Best Thing Tomatoes to play around a bit, I needed more. I had to make my own, so I procured the ingredients and and set about firming up quantities and times.
The truth is that it was every bit as simple as coring and quartering a bunch of tomatoes, chopping a couple onions, peeling a head’s worth of garlic, and tossing it all together with some salt, pepper, and olive oil, then banging the whole tray into the oven and basically forgetting it.
The only problem is that I stayed home to observe the process whereas Caroline had been running around doing stuff. Why is this a problem?
Because, in short, it smelled so good while it roasted and concentrated that I wanted to gnaw off my own leg to settle the brutal hunger it inspired. I’m here to tell you that you have a good 2 hours before you need to even consider looking at the goods (as long as your oven is pretty well calibrated temperature-wise.)
So you can do yard work, run a quick errand or two, or otherwise extricate yourself from temptation’s way while it does its thing. Don’t worry. It’ll work out.
…I’m also here to tell you that even though Caroline warned me, I did indeed wonder whether I had cooked them too long and let them go a little too far. You can see how dark they are. The answer?
No. It was perfect. Perfectly perfect.
It was absolutely The Best Thing to Do with Tomatoes. Ever. They WERE Best Thing Tomatoes Amen.
Are you wondering what to do with Best Thing Tomatoes? Oh boy… do I have a list for you.
How to use Best Thing Tomatoes:
Use in any recipe that calls for tomato paste. Simply sub in an equal amount for a far greater depth of flavour.
Use as a stand alone pizza sauce, or thin slightly and use as pizza sauce as desired. Use as a dip for bread sticks, too!
Toss 1/4 cup of Best Thing Tomatoes into a hot sauce pan and thin with a little pasta water. Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce, and garnish with a scandalous handful or three of your favourite grated cheese.
Pop on a fistful of chopped fresh parsley for a ridiculously easy pasta dish. Oh hey… you can even throw some leftover shredded or cubed chicken if you want to go nuts.
Add a spoonful or three to your soups near the end of cooking. Heck, add 1/2 cup to soups and stews at the beginning of cooking for REAL tomato goodness.
Spread on toasted Italian bread, top with a fried egg and a sprinkling of grated Asiago or Romano cheese for a hearty breakfast or serve with a salad for a light lunch.
Use as a dip for Fried Mozzarella Sticks, Prosciutto Arancini, or Crispy, Gooey Fresh Mozzarella Steaks. Dollop on top of Baked Pizza Frittatas.
… How would YOU serve Best Thing Tomatoes?
Cook’s Notes
PLEASE NOTE: This recipe is designed to be made in a standard oven. If you have a convection oven (as a couple of cooks have discovered), this will cook on average 30% faster, so you will need to check your tomatoes much earlier and much more often.
I’m telling you, if you do this right, you are VERY likely to wonder whether you’ve ruined a perfectly good bunch of tomatoes and wasted all that time in the oven. See the photo higher up in the post for proof.
It’s okay. Put it in the blender with the wine and you’ll be a happy camper.
Speaking of wine… I love this made with Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Grigio. I also love it made with a little diluted balsamic vinegar.
You choose. It’s hard to go wrong.
If you’re sharp-eyed, you’ll notice that my “before” photo shows herbs that haven’t been stripped from the stems but that I advise you to do just that before roasting. This is because I spent a few minutes POST roasting stripping now toasted herbs from their stems.
I’m here to tell you it is significantly easier and less messy to do so before roasting. Live and learn, right?
When the Best Thing Tomatoes have been puréed, you have a couple of options. My preference is to add about 1 cup to each of several sandwich sized zipper top bags.
I squeeze out as much air as possible, flatten the bags and freeze until solid. I transfer those frozen bags to a gallon sized zipper bag for storage.
Another handy option is to divide the Best Thing Tomatoes between little, 8-ish ounce sized jars or tupperware/gladware containers, fix a lid in place, and freeze. Whichever way you do it, please be sure to label either the large zipper top bag or the small containers.
Things that are frozen look surprisingly similar to completely different frozen things. Strawberry Puree and Best Thing Tomatoes? Not interchangeable.
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Best Thing Tomatoes
Rate RecipeIngredients
Per Half Sheet Pan:
- 3 to 4 pounds roma tomatoes cored and quartered
- 3 to 4 pounds beefsteak or vine ripe tomatoes cored and quartered
- 2 onions peeled, root end removed, cut into wedges
- 1 head garlic peeled and left whole
- 1 bunch thyme leaves stripped from the stems
- 1 bunch oregano leaves stripped from the stems
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Also needed:
- 1 cup to 1 3/4 cups pinot noir or pinot grigio or 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar mixed with 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Put the tomatoes on the rimmed half sheet pan. Scatter the onion wedges, garlic cloves, stripped herb leaves, salt, and pepper over the tomatoes. Drizzle the olive oil evenly. Place the pan (or as many sheet pans as you can do at once) in the oven and turn the heat to 350F. Roast for at least 4 hours and 30 minutes* (see notes), or until the tomatoes have shriveled and are deeply caramelized and smell strongly, there is some blackness around the edges, and the onions and garlic are caramelized. Remove from the oven and scrape the contents directly into a blender or food processor. Pour in the wine or balsamic and water mixture. Blend or process on high until smooth. Divide between small freezer bags or snack sized re-sealable containers and freeze for up to a year.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Reader's Thoughts...
Constancia says
This was excellent.
I purchased two good-sized boxes of Roma tomatoes. After a few days of peeling and canning, I was looking for something different. Tried this one and LOVED it! Not only is the sauce/paste good, but it was super easy. I added half pino grigio and half good-quality balsamic vinegar. It was delicious and the texture was great.
I turned my oven off after 2 hours and five minutes. That was perfect for us!
Rebecca says
Thank you so much for taking the time to rate the recipe and let me know you loved it, Constancia!
Jim says
Nice! I made 13 lbs of heirloom tomatoes into Best Thing Tomatoes, but need ideas to use them. Recipe ideas?
Dianna says
I think the time is too long for that temperature, and it is not surprising to see so many folks end up with charcoal tomatoes. The idea is great and works for cherry tomatoes (especially Sungolds) as well as plum and regular tomatoes. What I have done successfully when using tomatoes, other than cherry tomatoes, is to slice the tomatoes in quarters. I then try to deseed as much as possible over a strainer with a bowl underneath. I add the deseeded tomatoes in a large parchment-covered 9×13 dish, add a roughly chopped red bell pepper, a large roughly chopped onion, 5 to 7 garlic cloves chopped, and drizzle generously with EVOO. Stir the tomato mixture to try and coat the oil on all ingredients. I put them in the oven at 350 F for roughly an hour, sometimes a little longer if I’m using regular tomatoes vs plum tomatoes. Sometimes I add fresh rosemary or other herbs if I know what I’m planning to do with the tomatoes, but usually I don’t add herbs since I may use the tomatoes for a Mexican dish, Italian dish, etc. and can add herbs at that time. When I see the tips of the onions and peppers start to brown, I stir the mixture to get maximum browning. You will still see liquid in the dish after an hour, but I would never let it get dry because you would end up with a paste-like mixture once you have used an immersion blender. While the tomatoes are cooking, you can strain the seeds and the little gel pods containing the seeds so that you have some fresh juice in the bowl. I add that to the cooked tomato mixture after blending so you get a little touch of freshness in your tomatoes. I agree that this should not be canned since you have used oil as well as the veggies in the tomatoes. It can easily be frozen and used as needed. You can add spices during or after cooking or even later when you use your frozen sauce. For cherry tomatoes, I just cut them in half with no deseeding and use the same process. I would check them regularly after about 45 minutes because you really don’t want them to get too dry. Once you blend the mixture, it is very thick. You can add salt at the beginning of the process or wait until the tomatoes have been blended or both. I find that the tomatoes cooked in this way do not need sugar if you have decent tomatoes to begin with. I haven’t tried this with off-season tomatoes yet because I also can roasted tomatoes (prepared a little differently) so I have tomatoes year round. I think your readers might try cooking your recipe for a much shorter period of time or at much lower temperatures (275 F) and be much happier with the delicious results. There is nothing to compare with roasted tomatoes!!
Dianna says
Also, you do not want to use aluminum foil pans or aluminum foil to line your cooking dish since it reacts with tomatoes! Cook your tomatoes in a glass or stainless steel dish and utilize parchment paper if you are worried about cleaning up the cooked tomato mess.
Hope that helps how your tomatoes turn out!
Laura says
I’m curious about blending it straight out of the oven. I’ve always thought you shouldn’t blend hot foods. I’m afraid, but want to try this so badly. I don’t have an immersion blender, just a standard jug style blender
Rebecca says
Hi Laura- You *can* blend hot foods, but you do need to take some extra precautions if you do it. For instance, when putting the lid on your blender carafe, you might want to remove the vent plug, lay a double thickness of paper towel over it, and hold it in place with the vent plug. You don’t want to go straight to high speed, but instead pulse a few times to let it start breaking down and releasing steam safely.
And if all of that is kind of daunting, it’s okay- you can let it cool to a manageable temperature before blending. It sure won’t hurt anything and you’ll be safe!
MS says
I’ve done this recipe for two years now, but just a little different. Olive oil, salt, pepper, head of garlic, two onions, and just dried Italian seasonings (1-2 TBS). I use a 3″ deep roasting pan and load it up with as many tomatoes I can fit. Set the timer for 90 minutes and stir, repeat til it is reduced to 1/4. It’ll take 3+ closer to 4 hours. I don’t blend with wine as it hasn’t tasted as good to my wife and I, but it does make an extremely useful, flavorful tomato reduction. I use it for stews, lasagna, pasta sauce, chili, braised meats, etc…. We no longer can tomatoes as this just tastes better, and we use it frequently. For stews/braised venison, etc… I add a large can of crushed or diced tomatoes. Love this stuff.
Rebecca says
Thanks so much, MS! That is great feedback! And I’m with you. The only tomato products I put up these days are this and my Smoky Roasted Salsa.
MS says
Yes, I would say to those that are getting too much ‘char’ to double or triple the tomatoes and you’ll have a tomato stew brewing in the oven for the majority of the cooking time. I use a 3” deep roaster pan and it’s piled 2” over that when starting. I stir everything every 90 minutes just to get more pieces caramelized. When you get far enough along and go to stir it a bit and there’s no liquid in the bottom of the pan is when we pull it and allow to cool a bit, then it goes into the blender without the wine. Makes a ‘best thing tomatoes’ to our taste. Wife even did a batch with chili seasonings for a quick chili sauce this year.
Rebecca says
Thanks for the great advice, MS!
patricia says
I made this today and it tastes bitter. Not sure what to do. It roasted around 3 hrs, which was plenty. I have another batch, maybe the seeds made it bitter or the garlic.
Rebecca says
Hey Patricia! You may have had some less sweet tomatoes to start with… you can temper some of the bitterness by adding a little sugar or maple syrup (add in very small increments tasting after each addition). Alternately, a little grated parmesan or extra virgin olive oil might help offset some bitterness.
patricia says
when you say a “bunch” of herbs, do you mean several stems or the whole package.
Susan DeLude says
At 350, and 3 hours 15 minutes, I had ashes. Garlic cloves of dust. Occasional dots of red in blackened wasteland. I looked at it at 2 hours, and there was some wrinkling, and a little char…but not anything like the photo, so I left it for another hour. Ugh! Should the oven been at 250? Not a convection oven.
Rebecca says
Hi Susan- 350 is correct! Those must have been some seriously low moisture tomatoes to go from wrinkling with a bit of char to dust in an hour!! If you decide to give it another go, start checking every 15 minutes at 2 hours with the way your oven really kicked out the jams!!
Michaela says
Maybe it was just me, but I tried this recipe and after about 2.5 hours I could tell the tomatoes were very burnt. I took them out since they still had some life left in them, but after allowing them to cool they were pretty much charcoal/hollow tomatoes 🙁 I don’t know where I went wrong- I have a standard oven. Maybe I cut my tomatoes too small? Or maybe because I de-seeded them (not as much moisture). I went ahead and still tried to put them in the food processor, which created a dark paste (not really brick, more like brown). I tasted it and it was just too-charcoal-y for me. I really really wanted to love this recipe since I have so many tomatoes from my garden and don’t want to waste them! Any tips?
Rebecca says
Hi Michaela- You definitely shouldn’t have deseeded them. I pop them right in without deseeding. If you give it another round, leave the seeds/guts in, and pull them slightly before if you dislike char. 🙂
Mary says
I won’t get my food processor for 2 weeks and my tomatoes are ready! Can I prep them in the oven and freeze the roasted food to process later? Will this work?
Rebecca says
You bet!!! That’ll work just fine!