Why this recipe sings

No summer passes without making tomato confit on repeat. The abundance of good tomatoes and the fantastic flavor of this dish make it impossible not to make it. In the summer, I add tomato confit to most dishes, including scrambled eggs, fish, and pizza, and as a side to grilled proteins.

It keeps well in the fridge for a week or a month in the freezer.

What is confit, you will ask?

Confit  (from the French word confire, literally “to preserve”) is any food simmered over a long period as a preservation method.

Confit describes food cooked in oil or syrup at a lower temperature when used as a cooking term. For example, the oil temperature would be around 90 °C (200 °F), sometimes even cooler. Confit is usually used in modern cuisine to mean long, slow cooking in oil or fat at low temperatures. Many have no preservation element, such as in dishes like this tomato confit.

Here is what you need

• Cherry tomatoes. You can use any tomato, but cherry tomatoes, with high sugar content, work well. The same goes for grape tomatoes. Also, halved plum tomatoes are an excellent choice.
• Garlic cloves. They roast in their skin for sweet, savory notes. The flesh is added after cooking with the tomatoes.
• Extra virgin olive oil. Together with the juice of the tomatoes, it makes the perfect liquid to slow cook.
• Fresh oregano and thyme.
• Brown sugar. It is optional. A teaspoon of sugar helps break the acid if your tomatoes are more acidic.
• Chili flakes. For a slight kick.
• Sea salt. I usually use coarse sea salt, but regular table salt works just as well.

How to make tomato confit

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Place the tomatoes in an ovenproof pan.

Tuck the garlic cloves between the tomatoes. Add the herbs and season with sea salt and chili flakes. Sprinkle one teaspoon of brown sugar all over the tomatoes. Pour the olive oil all over.
Place the pan in the oven and slow cook for three hours, occasionally gently mixing the tomatoes with a wooden spoon.

Remove from oven.

Let tomatoes cool a little (five minutes), and remove the garlic cloves.

Discard the skins and mix the flesh with the tomatoes while they are warm. Be gentle so as not to break the tomatoes too much.

Your tomato confit is ready. You can serve it as is, warm or at room temperature.

My favorite serving suggestion is adding tomato confit on warm, crusty bread. A couple of herbs leaves get sprinkled all over as some of the liquid. I might add parmesan flakes or mozzarella, although it is perfect, just like it is.
This tomato confit goes well with almost everything. Add it to warm pasta with grated parmesan, and you have a great meal. A couple of spoonfuls of these tomatoes and burrata cheese transform a leafy salad into a feast.
Keeps well in the fridge for a week and a month in the freezer.

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