50 Roma or san marzano tomatoes
This number of tomatoes will produce 6 to 8 250 ml jars
8 cloves of garlic, smashed, peeled and finely diced
2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
1 Jalapeno pepper
4 TBLSP. olive oil

4 TBLSP. balsamic vineger
fresh basil leaves

sterilize jars by putting them the dishwasher
I like to use 250 ML jars for this recipe
For this recipe you will need approximately 6 jars but sterilize 10, so you have them on hand.

To prepare your tomatoes you will need a large pot which you will fill with water and then you will boil it. You should also keep a full kettle of boiled water close by.

The skin needs to be removed from the tomatoes and then the seeds need to be removed. It sound scary but just jump in.
The skin will not come off nicely unless the water is actually boiling when you pour it over the tomatoes or when you submerge the tomatoes into the water. Before you put water and tomatoes together, cut a small X in the bottom of the tomatoes.
Bring your pot of water to a boil
turn the burner off
put as many tomatoes as you can into the water bearing in mind that they need to be fully covered by the water.
Leave the tomatoes in the water for five minutes
keep a bowl of cold water close
with tongs (I just stick a paring knife into the tomato and pull it out that way) remove a tomato and plunge it into the cold water. This step is just so that it cools slightly so you can handle it. pull the skin off and place the tomato in a separate bowl.
As soon as all of the tomatoes have been removed from the pot, turn the burner on again and bring the water to a boil. You can also use the boiling water in the kettle to pour over a different bowl full of tomatoes
Continue this process until you tomatoes are all peeled.
NOW THE MESSY PART

place a large colander over yet another bowl and begin to remove the seed part. Cut the tomatoes in half and with your fingers, remove seed and juice. Put this into the colander. When you are finished with your seeding you will find the bowl beneath the pulp and seeds, is full of juice.
I made my sauce and my
Roasted Tomatoes at the same time. If you choose to do both
you can put the juice in a separate pot which you will use for your sauce.

preheat oven to 400

put your tomato halves on a jelly roll pan. The pan can be full but not packed and the tomatoes should be laid out in a single layer. You can use two racks of the oven. So two pans!

drizzle 2 TBLSPS. olive oil over the tomatoes on each pan.
sprinkle each pan with 1 tsp. salt
toss together and then spread out again.
Place both pans into the oven and reduce heat to 350
Allow to roast for one hour and then add 4 cloves of finely diced garlic and 1/2 jalapeno and stir. Spread the tomatoes into single layer again.
reduce oven to 300 and cook for another hour.
**If you notice that the tomatoes are getting too well done, they may need to be stirred and rearranged.
If you see that they are caramelized before the two hours are up, feel free to remove them from the oven.
During the last half hour of cooking time, turn burner on under lids that have been submerged in water.
on low, heat the lids.

Place all of the tomatoes into a large pot and add two TBLSP. balsamic vinegar. Stir and turn heat to medium. Heat tomato mixture so that it is starting to bubble. place a clean jelly roll pan next to the burner and have a clean damp dishcloth ready. place jars on pan and put a couple of basil leaves in each jar.

The next step needs to be done quickly so that your tomatoes do not cool.
Fill the jars to 1/2 inch below the top of the jar. Do two or three jars at a time.
**VERY CAREFULLY wipe the top edge of the jars so that there is not even one little piece of tomato on top. If there is anything on the top of the jar, it will not seal.
Place your lid on top
place and turn ring on top. Tighten but not firmly. Just a nice gentle tighten.
set aside
when your jars are full, place them either in a canner or in a cake pan. put water in the cake pan to half fill it once the jars are in the pan.
Place pan full of tomato jars into the oven that you have not turned off. Increase temperature to 400 when the temp reaches 400 and without opening the oven door, reduce heat again to 300 and leave the jars in the oven for one hour.

You may hear the lids popping while they are in the oven but if you don’t, they will pop once they have been removed from the oven.
DO NOT TOUCH the LIDS until they have sealed. I used to get into SO MUCH trouble if I touched those lids before they popped.
Once they have cooled check the lids. The variance is very slight but you can tell when the jar has sealed. The lid is concave.
If you have a jar that does not seal, remove the tomatoes and bring them to a boil again in a small pan. Put them back into the jar and tighten the lid.
Alternatively, if you only have one or two jars that don’t seal, just tighten them and put them in the fridge. Eat them within a couple of weeks.

Well there you have it. Amazing, delicious, roasted tomatoes. Use them on pasta or on a charcuterie platter or on pizza.
MMM