Slow-Roasted Tomato-Coconut Sauce

SLOW-ROASTED TOMATOES

Farewell to Winter-Tomato Blues

Very bleak indeed is the moment you bite into a lustily coloured tomato, anticipating a bright burst of juicy goodness and instead receive what tastes like a lab project. With determined optimism you keep chewing, believing that enough effort can make the flavour happen. Maybe it’s you, you think.  Maybe you’re not concentrating hard enough, or maybe you’re coming down with a head cold. Surely it can’t be the failure of this dazzling creation. Surely there is some taste in this tomato somewhere. 

   

There is. And I’m here to help you find it.

2 ½ lbs. medium tomatoes, halved

6-8 sprigs fresh thyme, rosemary or a combination of both

6-8 sprigs fresh basil (you can basically use whatever herbs you’d like)

8 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole

1/4” chunk of ginger

Olive oil to cover (approximately 4-6 cups)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Toss tomatoes, herbs and garlic together in a 9x13’ baking dish. Pour olive oil over to almost cover. You want the tops peeking out a bit so they brown.

Place in oven for about 2 hours or until tomatoes are beginning to darken in spots.

Now remove the tomatoes from the olive oil and set aside for all sorts of fun uses. They’re fantastic in many ways, the most obvious being pasta sauce.

And get this! You won’t be wasting all that olive oil. Now you have a lovely, tomato-y, garlicky, herby olive oil to use any way you’d like! Just be sure to keep it in the fridge.

Adapted from the creative food brain of Amanda Cohen.

Slow-Roasted Tomato-Coconut Sauce

 Here’s a fantastic way to "chef-up" those enchanting roasted tomatoes we just discussed!

¼ cup oil from the slow-roasted tomatoes (or coconut oil in a pinch)

1 large onion, minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

½ teaspoon cumin seeds, ground

½ teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon pepper

4 cups slow-roasted tomatoes, chopped

1 can coconut milk (NOT the low-fat kind)

Cilantro

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a saucepot.  Sauté the onion until beginning to brown. Add jalapeno and ginger for about 5 minutes, then the garlic for 30 seconds. Stir in the cumin and turmeric, sauté for a minute.

Once everything in the pot is nicely golden and smelling fragrant, stir in salt, pepper, tomatoes and coconut milk. Bring to a strong simmer, then reduce heat and continue to simmer gently for 25- 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Garnish with cilantro.

Now it’s ready for chicken, fish or rice!

We poured it over slow-cooked salmon. They made a wonderful couple!

Pictured above: Tomato-Coconut Sauce over Slow Roasted Salmon, with a side of farrow and acorn squash.