Tomato Confit

Yield: 8 Servings

Ingredients:

• 8 ripe early girl tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 2 whole peeled garlic cloves, cut in half
• 7 sprigs of mixed fresh herbs like thyme, oregano, basil, mint
• 1 ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.  Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil, drop in the tomatoes and let cook for 2 minutes. Fish the tomatoes out of the water and dip them into some ice water to stop the cooking. 
2. Cut the core out of the tomatoes and peel the skin off. Season the tomatoes all around with the salt. Place them top-down into an ovenproof dish there they fit snugly. Tuck the garlic halves and the herb sprigs around the tomatoes.Pour in the olive oil, the oil should come up to ¾ of the height of the tomatoes, you might not need all of the oil- but you might need more olive oil- depending on the size of the dish you are using and the size of the tomatoes. 
3. Bake the tomatoes uncovered for 45 minutes, they should give when you push gently on them, but not fall apart. Remove from the oven and cool in the dish with the olive oil.

When serving, use a slotted spoon when transferring the tomato, but also you can spoon a little extra oil over top of the tomato once it is on the plate. 

Serve on top of succotash, cooked beans, or layered on toast with ricotta and a dusting of chopped chives. Yum!

Enjoy!