I LOVE the taste of roasted tomatoes. (See “Lasagna from Scratch.”) Roasting makes the flavor much more intense. So, I wondered about REALLY slow roasting them. I just went to our mid-week farmers’ market yesterday and purchased about 3 lbs. of cherry Romas. (I have some planted in the garden, but notice I said I was purchasing these from the market—enough said!) I washed and halved them, tossed them with some olive oil and sea salt. I added a head of garlic and some thyme to finish the effort. I put this in a 9 x 14 inch glass baking dish and shoved it all in a 250 degree oven for 4-6 hours (depending on the size of your tomatoes). These cherry Romas came out soooo sweet. I don’t know how many I popped in my mouth while I was finishing up dinner!
I also bought 1 1/2 lbs. of green beans. (I won’t even bother discussing the state of the beans in my garden. Maybe I should rename this category to “What we’re buying, eating and doing”!) My intent was to make some more dilled beans. But, as I sat and smelled the tomatoes roasting, I decided to throw something else together for dinner. (Did I mention that I cleaned out the chest freezer today to make more room for the growing amount of fresh food I am freezing? I found some pork spare ribs at the bottom of the freezer that I am thawing out dinner as well.) What about using some of my roasted baby Romas with green beans and pesto?
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 c. white wine
2 T. pesto
1/4 c. roasted tomatoes, coarsely chopped (see instructions above)
Sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Blanch/cook green beans in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions sauté until tender, about 3minutes. Add the beans and sauté until tender, 5-6 minutes. Stir in the wine. Simmer 2 minutes longer. Add pesto and roasted tomatoes and reheat if needed. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve.
