Recipe: Sun-blushed Tomatoes

I decided to make some sun-blushed tomatoes yesterday and I thought I'd share my recipe. They're incredibly easy to make and really tasty. Plus the house smelt incredible all last night!

Ingredients:

- 2 packs of cherry tomatoes

- 4 tbsp of olive oil

- 4 cloves of garlic (chopped or grated)

- 1 tbsp of dried oregano

- 1 tbsp dried thyme

- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

- 1/2 tsp salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 120°C/250°F/gas 1/2

2. In a small bowl mix all the ingredients (except the tomatoes) into the olive oil.

3. Halve the tomatoes and arrange them in an oven proof dish, in a single layer. It may take more than one oven proof dish because if you cram them in or layer them, they'll stew.

4. Spoon over the oil and herb mixture and put into the oven for 2 hours until they've softened, wrinkled and begun to char a little around the edges.

5. Let them get cold and store in clean airtight jars.

They'll keep for a week or so in the fridge, but if they're in our house I'm lucky if they last that long. Though I take that as flattery.

I do work from an existing recipe, it was in a book of Chinese Noodles of all places, however I've adapted it to take out the parsley and dill each parent dislikes one or the other. I've also taken out the sugar because I quite like the wershness and frankly cherry tomatoes are sweet enough to cope without it.

I think I've become a little obsessed with preserves, in the last year I've learnt to make jam, pickled every veggie to hand, steeped flowers to make elderflower cordial, sun-blushed tomatoes and I've even made real marmalade, in a process which took me from about ten in the morning until seven at night. The others were relaxing. Marmalade was not!

If you want a tasty treat and don't want to be frantic, make the tomatoes...not marmalade!

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Listening: Twin Atlantic - What Is Light? Where Is Laughter?