Cooking all over the World: Slow Roasted Tomato BLT

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Slow Roasted Tomato BLT

Posted: 14 Sep 2011 06:00 PM PDT

For the last little while we have been in the middle of tomato season where the field tomatoes are perfectly sun ripened and just packed with flavour. One of my favourite ways to enjoy these tomatoes while they are at their peak of deliciousness is in a simple BLT sandwich where the juicy tomato takes the center stage and shines in all of its wondrous glory! After having enjoyed perhaps a few too many BLTs I wanted to change things up a bit and I remembered that I had wanted to try doing a roasted tomato BLT. As amazing as the tomatoes are right now, they get even better when you slowly roast them as their flavour concentrates, rather like a sun dried tomato.

The idea was to start with some roma or plum tomatoes and cut them into roughly quarter inch slices so that they would roast quicker and this meant that the smaller ones could be cut in half and the larger ones would need to be cut into three. These tomato slices are then tossed in olive oil along with some thyme and a touch of salt and pepper before roasting. (A splash of balsamic vinegar would also work wonders here.) The tomato slices are then slowly roasted at a lower temperature until they shrivel up but still contain some juices on the inside. Roasting the tomatoes can take 3 or 4 hours so it is a good idea to do it the day ahead of time and they keep well in the fridge for a few days. Just make sure to roast as many of them as you can fit into your oven as they are like candy and you will find yourself heading back to the fridge throughout the day to snack on them!

Slow Roasted Tomato BLT

Once you have your roasted tomatoes, the BLT is finished the usual way. I like to start with a nice whole grain bread and use some thick double smoked bacon from fresh from the butchers shop when I can. Normally I garnish my BLTs with some mayo but this time I had leftovers from a batch of basil pesto on hand and mixed them up together to add even more summery freshness to the sandwich. I have to say that as good as a BLT sandwich is, this roasted tomato BLT is so much better! It's just too bad that those roasted tomatoes disappeared so quickly! I will have to make some more of them soon!

Slow Roasted Tomato BLT

Slow roasting tomatoes brings out their flavour and this concentrated flavour takes your average BLT sandwich from great to amazing!

Servings: makes 2 sandwiches

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

4 slices bread, lightly toasted
2 handfuls lettuce
2 slow roasted roma tomatoes (see below)
6 strips bacon, cooked until crispy
2 tablespoons mayo mixed with 2 tablespoons pesto

Directions

Assemble sandwich and enjoy.

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Slowly roasting tomatoes really brings out their flavour and it is so easy to do!

Servings: makes 10 roasted roma tomatoes

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours

Ingredients

10 roma/plum tomatoes , cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Toss the tomatoes with the olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper to coat.
Place the tomatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet with the cut side facing up.
Roast the tomatoes in a preheated 250F oven until mostly dry, about 3-4 hours.