Oven Roasted Italian Herb Tomato Slices

Herb infused tomato slices that become so sweet and candy-like when roasted. Perfect for salads, sandwiches, toasts and so much more!

This is one of those “staple” recipes as my Mom used to call it. It’s a basic recipe that, when completed, can be used in a million different applications. Growing up, we always had huge gardens.

Living on 41 acres, while we weren’t farmers by any stretch of the imagination, we did grow almost all of our produce and fruits.

What’s your favorite way to eat tomatoes?

Growing up it was nothing for my parents and siblings to eat Tomato Sandwiches. Just 2 slices of white bread, a slather of mayo, fresh-cut tomatoes from the garden with just a little salt and pepper.

Me… yeah, not so much.

I’ll be completely honest here, I don’t like raw tomatoes that much. Now I do like the mini sweet cherry tomatoes or the mini tomberries tomatoes raw. But for me, my favorite way to get that great tomato taste is roasting them.

Ingredients Needed To Roast Tomatoes

You can honestly go with whatever herbs you have on hand. Dried herbs work best though.

• Fresh tomatoes – obviously. You can go with any type or any combination. Remember the larger the tomato, the longer it will take to roast.
• Dried Herbs – I typically go with basil, oregano, kosher salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Tomatoes are super healthy for you

Tomatoes are super healthy for you to say the least!  They act as an excellent source of the strong antioxidant vitamin C and other antioxidants, tomatoes can help combat the formation of free radicals known to cause cancer.

Lycopene has been linked with prostate cancer prevention in several studies. According to the American Cancer Society, some studies have shown that people who have diets rich in tomatoes may have a lower risk of certain types of cancer, especially cancers of the prostate, lung, and stomach.

Just one medium tomato (approximately 123 grams) provides 22 calories, 0 grams of fat, 5 grams of carbohydrates (including 1 gram of fiber and 3 grams of sugar) and 1 gram of protein.

Tomatoes are a rich source of vitamins A and C and folic acid. Tomatoes contain a wide array of beneficial nutrients and antioxidants, including alpha-lipoic acid, lycopene, choline, folic acid, beta-carotene, and lutein.

Even if you’re a huge fan of raw tomatoes, you can still roast them and get many of the great health benefits!

Chef’s Tip about Roasting Tomatoes

To make these all you really need to remember is a few basic things:

• Use a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment. I did try using a cooling rack and putting the tomatoes on that to roast but I found the tomatoes stuck to the rack and ruined more than my fair share.
• Slices should be about a 1/3″ thick. Cherry tomatoes and small tomatoes you can just cut in half.

Let’s Get To Roasting our Tomatoes

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line one-two rimmed baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
2. Slice up the tomatoes and place them on the pan in a single layer.
3. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with herb mixture
4. Roast until tomatoes have started to shrink and caramelize around the edges. Their color will turn a deeper red, almost scarlet color.
5. *If you’re using a mixture of sizes you may need to remove the smaller ones first and continue roasting the larger ones.

The amount of time you roast your tomato slices will depend on how juicy they are and how big they are.

How to use Oven Roasted Italian Herb Tomatoes

Something magical happens to tomatoes when you oven roast them. They almost candy, They become sweet, a little chewy/crunchy and absolutely delicious!

• Caprese Crostini – it’s such a great appetizer and so easy!
• Smashed Avocado Toast – Simply smash avocado with some salt and pepper. Add to toast, top with some roasted tomatoes and add an over-easy egg. It’s the perfect anytime toast!
• Sandwich – replace these roasted tomatoes on your favorite sandwich. My personal favorite is roasted turkey, bacon, arugula and ranch with these tomatoes!
• Salads – Chop up the roasted tomato slices and add to a BLT salad to add more depth of flavor
• Pizza – Roasted tomatoes on a white pizza are incredible! Plus, you don’t have to worry about the crust getting soggy from raw tomatoes!

 

Kick up your roasted tomatoes

1. Add a few cloves of sliced garlic to the pan and coat with oil and herbs. Roast per the directions.
2. If you have vine tomatoes, leave them on the vine and roast away. Cherry tomatoes left on the vine and roasted make for a gorgeous plate of food!
3. Want whole roasted? Just core the tomatoes and, instead of using a sheet pan, place the tomatoes in a baking dish in a single layer. Drizzle with oil and herbs and roast until they are blistered and shrunken

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