These roasted cherry tomatoes are a versatile condiment, pasta sauce, salad dressing, bruschetta topping or side dish. It is delicious served hot or cold.
Yield3 cups
Servings6
Equipment
- Baking sheet – Use a casserole dish or rimmed baking sheet that fits the tomatoes snuggly – no bigger than a half-sheet pan. If you have too much space between the tomatoes, the sauce will evaporate and burn.
Ingredients
Marinade
- 3 tablespoons rose harissa
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
Tomato mix
- 1 pound mixed small tomatoes (or more cherry tomatoes), sliced in half (roughly 3 cups)
- 1 pound cherry tomatoes, kept whole (roughly 3 cups)
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, for roasting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 360 °F.
- Mix the marinade ingredients in a large bowl.
- Add the sliced tomatoes to the marinade, along with the fresh thyme.
- Spread the marinated tomato mix over the baking sheet. And top with the whole tomatoes. Drizzle over the last tablespoon of olive oil, and give the tray a shake to coat the tomatoes evenly.
- Place the tray in the top third of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes. The tomatoes are ready when the sauce bubbles and the sliced tomatoes start to fall apart. Some of the whole tomatoes will be plump and glossy, some will look wrinkly, and others may have burst.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Or freeze it for an emergency quick dinner sauce.
Notes
A note on cooking time:
- Always keep in mind that ovens differ. If you have a fan oven, reduce the temperature. Also, the size of your tomatoes and baking sheet will affect the cooking time. Start checking at 30 minutes.
- Use a mix of small tomatoes or stick to only cherry tomatoes. Slice approximately half of the cherry tomatoes in half for the sauce.
- But you can also use standard-sized cooking tomatoes – such as Roma tomatoes. Dice the largest ones and mix them into the marinade. Then slice the rest in half. And nestle the tomatoes, cut side up, into the tomato-marinade mix. Roast for 40 - 45 minutes.
- If you have tomatoes on the vine, you can leave them on the vine for roasting. For pasta sauce and dips, gently remove the tomatoes from the vine with a gentle twist and a pull. But if you serve the roasted cherry tomatoes as a side, leave them on the vine when plating. They look absolutely gorgeous like this!