Quick and Easy Oven Roast Cherry Tomatoes

A delicious taste of sunshine all year round!

I'd say this is almost more of a method than a recipe, but either way they're so quick and easy to prepare it's hard to go wrong and you can adapt the 'recipe' to your own tastes.

I prefer to bake mine on Pyrex as the bottoms don't burn, and they don't stick. I've recently fallen in love with Pyrex baking trays, which I only discovered quite recently - especially as they fit really easily standing up in the plate rack of the dishwashers, and don't take up so much room as the good old Pyrex dishes which are always a bit awkward to fit in!

These* are the ones I use, and they're brilliant for all kinds of things. (You can get them singly on Amazon too, but they're currently £9.96 each, and buying as a four pack means you almost get the fourth one 'free' - might be worth going 'twosies' with a friend or shopping around).

Another thing I highly recommend using to prepare these, is a decent oil spray - you could drizzle the oil, but then you'll use a lot more, and they could turn out a bit greasy, whereas spraying the oil gives a nice even coverage. Another option is to toss your tomatoes in a bowl with your salt, oil and any other flavourings.

I tend to do a pack all at once (400g), but you can do as many or as few as you want to, as it's just a question of sprinkling and spraying them, rather than any weighing. So go ahead, and give it a go!

Ingredients

• Cherry tomatoes (400g or as many as you want)
• Fine sea salt
• Olive oil or extra virgin olive oil (preferably in a spray bottle)
  

Optional flavourings
I normally like to use a grinding of black pepper and a sprinkling of dried oregano

• Dried oregano
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Very finely chopped garlic, or finely sliced if you prefer
  
• Crushed fennel seeds
• Grated orange zest
• Chilli flakes (Urfa or Aleppo have nice interesting flavours and aren't too hot)
• Fresh thyme (leaves stripped, or you can lay the sprigs on whole)
• Sumac
• Fresh basil - roll up and finely slice (chiffonade), then toss in a bowl with the tomatoes, salt, any other ingredients and olive oil, rather than sprinkling on top
• A few drops of balsamic vinegar, if you want to add a little extra sweetness and acidity (best added to bowl with salt, oil and any other ingredients as the previous bullet point)

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 4 / 350F / 160C fan oven, and wash and dry the tomatoes.

2. Cut in half through the 'equator' (i.e. through the middle, not from the top / stalk end to the bottom) - if you want a quick hack to do them all at once, put them on a flat surface (e.g. chopping board) all grouped together, put another flat surface on top, and hold down, and use a long serrated (sharp) knife and you can cut all the way through them all - if that sounds confusing, see this 30 second video here!

3. Take your dish or tray, and very lightly coat with a little oil. Put your tomatoes on it (unless you're tossing them in a bowl), at first all together in a bunch, to avoid wasting toppings etc. Sprinkle evenly with salt, quite generously (but don't go mad!), as it helps to release some of their water, and concentrate / deepen the flavour. Sprinkle with any other ingredients you want to use.

4. Spray evenly with your oil from a small distance, so that you don't blow your topping/s off - these* are my favourite oil spray bottles, as unlike most others, they don't seem to clog up and squirt. You press the pump hard for an even / finer spray. Alternatively drizzle (or toss together in a bowl).

5. Spread out the tomatoes, and put into the oven for 15 minutes, then turn the tray if necessary and cook for another 15 minutes. Check on the tomatoes - I like to give them another 10 minutes, but if you're happy with them after half an hour, then stop there. Turn off the oven and leave the tomatoes in there for a couple of hours or so whilst the oven cools down. This will allow a little more liquid to evaporate, giving you a lovely intense flavour.

6. Once the tomatoes are cool, put into an airtight container, and store in the fridge for 5 - 7 days. Alternatively (unlike fresh tomatoes) you can freeze them, and they'll store in the freezer for several months.

*Affiliate links - it won't change or increase the price you pay, but I will get a tiny percentage of the total price to go towards the upkeep of my blog.