Cocktail Tomatoes from Local Producer: Gull Valley Farms
Last fall I wrote a post on oven roasted vine ripened tomatoes which is a must read if you have tomatoes in the garden that you do not know what to do with. I am writing another post about it this late spring, early summer as I also make them and do not preserve them. I use them as I have in this post: a myriad of different ways.
There is nothing better than a fresh, home-grown heirloom tomato. But, a vine-ripened greenhouse tomato can also be incredible if they come from Gull Valley Farms (to be found at City Market, OSFM, and St. Albert market all summer long)! These are their incredible cocktail tomatoes. Now, it is close to blasphemous for me to oven roast these so early in the season, yet, the roasting only distills the essence of their incredible flavour, so how can I go wrong?
And why the vines? I was watching a program with Heston Blumenthal creating the perfect ketchup and he brewed his tomatoes with their vines as he went into a trance (eyes rolling back in head) after breathing in the incredible aroma of the vine. I did the same, and understand. Thus, the vines are kept on… and, they look great, too.
One layer in the pan (if they are large tomatoes, I cut them in half and place the cut side down, turning once when almost done), covered with a really good olive oil, sprinkled with Maldon salt, and a couple of bulbs of garlic cloves, peeled and sliced placed intermittently amongst the tomatoes. I have a convection oven, so I usually roast these at 170ºF overnight. The time depends upon the size of the tomatoes” 12 hours may not be enough. If you don’t have a convection oven, experiment a bit. You could roast them at 200ºF for 5-6 hours, again depending upon the size and the amount of moisture you want remaining in them. I like them like this.
These are perfect for how I am planning on using them. If I was to preserve them in the freezer at the end of the summer, I would want them considerably drier as in this post.
I made these for the pizza at Vince and Colleen’s Slow Food Summer Solstice Outdoor Oven Feast! They are gorgeous on a grilled pizza, too. Or, even an oven baked one.
I love them in a grilled salad, too. Below, my extra tomatoes were tossed into the grilled salad brought to the same event. YUM.
And last year, I had family friends for dinner and prepared my own grilled salad topped with these tomatoes.
I dressed it with the dressing I used for my Roasted Red Pepper Salad. It was deadly delicious. I love the dressing on roasted vegetables. NUM-YUM!
So, Lequan, I think that this is a simple, delicious, nutritious, and economical (if you grow your own) recipe for you! Just for you! And, in the fall, or maybe even earlier, I hope you try it!
Branka, Sova, Tamara and Jelena LOVED it.
With love,
Valerie
… and me, toooooo xoxoxoxoxo
I love that the tomatoes are kept on their vine Valerie.
I love this technique. I could see so many uses for these tomatoes. Thank you for sharing.
Beautiful pictures, too. Love doing tomatoes this way.
Valerie, I have never tried roast so many tomatoes all at once. Look fabulous, esp. the pizza!! Simply irresistible!
LOVED this my dear friend! This is definitely the perfect post for me. As I’ve told you before, my Dad loves growing stuff and he grows a lot of tomatoes. We usually use them to cook “bun rue” (which I’ve yet to invite you guys over for) but by the end of summer we don’t know what to do with the rest of his tomatoes. Now I definitely know what to do with them! Thank you so much for this post Valerie! Sorry it took me a while to finally respond, was busy catching up on all you wonderful sous vide posts and videos. When I catch up on posts I always like to read everything in order :-D. Part of my OCD maybe? Lol.
I officially love this post, because it is dedicated to LeQuan.
🙂
That, AND I love simply + easy too! PLUS HOMEGROWN TOMATOES!! Baked in oil too. Gotta get my lycopene, right?
😀 Aletheia
Dear Val – What a lovely gesture for LeQuan and we all LOVE LeQuan!
This is incredible. I don’t grow anything. I think I was last in line when God was handing out green thumbs. BUT you make me want to run to my farmer’s market and buy these vine ripened tomatoes and roast them pronto!
Stunning pics and as always brimming with creativity and passion.
muah, muah
Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
Those tomatoes look fantastic; and so versatile. Once they’re made they can be used in anything and everything!
These tomatoes look so appetizing! Wonderful shots! It would be great to have it at breakfast. YUM!
I love this post because 1) I adore Lequan like crazy, too and 2) omg, nothing beats good roasted tomatoes!! Would love this in a tart, or on pizza or a grilled cheese sandwich!
Every other Lebanese dish is tomato-based and these tips are so valuable Valerie. Thank you .
great recipe love that the vines are kept on….they look great slow roasted tomatoes…and the pizza looks amazing,
sweetlife
Okay, that last photo looks like Bill Murray is in your kitchen making food for you guys (smile)!
I’m bookmarking this, Valerie. I don’t have access to nice tomatoes at all-anywhere! But I plan on having a garden this time next year full of tomatoes. I did it for my Mom, and I want one too…
Nice post.
p.s. I love LeQuan too!
Val..now that it’s summer, and currently living in NJ..I have access to some beautiful tomatoes, including my own plums that I’m growing, so I’m so excited about this roasted tomato entry – it motivates me! I saw that program with Heston Blumenthal and always leave them on or buy them with the vines attached when possible. I used to actually make my own sun dried tomatoes..in the sun, then pack them in olive oil for storing. I’ll be definitely roasting my next batch of tomatoes!
Beautiful entry…so informative, and phenomenal photos 🙂 Always so much fun to see what your next post will be!
This all looks amazing. I’ve done the roasted tomatoes before but not with all that garlic. Makes me wonder why it didn’t occur to me to do that….? Going to do it very soon..
mm..these look good! Great on pizza or perhaps in a tossed salad? I was checking in to see if you had any posts re: your taste tripping party. I heard it was a huge success! Perhaps you’ll have a few pics up next time? 🙂
Take care Val!
Hi Valerie, I recently found your website and tried this recipe. It was absolutely AMAZING! Never had roasted tomatoes that had this much intensity. I put it over my favorite garlic and chicken linguine. The tomatoes went very well with my pasta.
I’m so glad I’ve tried it. I will attempt your ketchup recipe very soon:) Thanks.
This is one of my very favourite recipes, Kelly!
I am so happy to hear that you tried it and loved it. My husband loves the ketchup! It is not like Heinz, but it is a delicious sophisticated ketchup recipe; the green tomato ketchup is more traditionally flavoured, but the colour can be disconcerting.
🙂
V
Hello Valerie,
Thank you for your reply on the sauce post. 🙂
Now I have another question… my poor oven only does fan bake and not ordinary bake. What temperature should I use – and would it be alright to use fan bake?
Thanks so much,
Virginia
Hi Virginia
I use 170 degrees F, and I do use convection oven. So, how low does your oven go? No more than 200…
Get back to me. Let’s make this work!
🙂
Valerie
Sorry, been away…
It goes down to 50 C which is 125 F I believe… a bit cold though? What do you think?
Thanks so much for helping,
Virginia
Virginia
170F is perfect – 50 C is way too cold…
🙂
Valerie