The Daring Kitchen: Roasted Tomatoes for the Freezer

This month's cooking challenge dealt with food preservation. You had your option of doing a canning method or a freezing method. Given that I got rid of my canning equipment years ago when I lived in my small condo, I went with the freezing method. So I chose to do roasted tomatoes for the freezer.

First I took 13 fresh tomatoes and washed them with vegetable cleaner, and put them on a paper towel to dry.

Then I removed their cores...
Slice 4 basil leaves into thin strips...

Mix the basil in a small bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil and 2 cloves of garlic.

Slice the tomatoes into halves and lay them cut side down on cookie sheets lined with aluminum foil. Distribute the garlic-basil mixture evenly over the tomatoes.

Sprinkle with sea salt and a pinch or two of ground cloves.

Place cookie sheets in 325 degree oven. Roast them for 1-2 hours, until they are beginning to get golden brown.
Their skins will get really papery. I needed to roast mine closer to 2 hours. Small plum tomatoes may have taken closer to an hour.

I found I was able to peel off the skins pretty easily. Then when I would use a spatula to lift up the tomato, I could easily remove the seeds and pulp, and was left with a lovely medallion of roasted tomato.

The tomatoes layered nicely in a small tupperware dish. 13 tomatoes amounted to about 1 1/2-2 cups of roasted tomatoes.

I haven't had a chance to use the tomatoes yet, but I am sure that they will be delicious! I hope to try them out this week or weekend, perhaps with a little pasta and garlic bread. Thanks for the challenge!