Slow Roasted Tomatoes

This summer there was heat a'plenty and almost no rain (both highly unusual for us here on the west coast) so I had a bumper crop of tomatoes. Red ones. Yellow ones. Paste tomatoes. Huge beefsteaks. Little green stripy ones. There are still a LOT of tomatoes finishing up their ripening down in the laundry room. We've been eating a lot of fresh salsa, bacon and tomato sandwiches and caprese salad, but we just couldn't keep up and I needed a way to store some of this deliciousness for the cold and drizzly days of winter. When I found this recipe for slow roasted tomatoes, I just knew that I'd found the way, so yesterday I was up early to get a pan in the oven by 8 because they take a full 12 hours to roast. Of course at a bleary 7 a.m. I didn't actually look at the recipe and just went by memory so I did remove the stem socket even though it told me not to. Didn't seem to matter, as after 12 hours at 200 degrees the skins just slipped off.I decided to give this batch a whiz in the food processor before bagging it for the freezer. Next time I think I'll roast just red or just yellow, as the orangey colour it ended up is not as appetizing as it could be. It doesn't really matter what it looks like, because it tastes amazing. It's so very rich and savoury, with a concentrated but mellow tomato flavour and I know it's going to bring a sparkle to lots of dinners this winter. Did I tell you we're getting a freezer? It's the kind that is almost as tall as me and looks like a refrigerator. It's very odd, but it's the freezer entering this house that seems to be the biggest symbol for me of a shift in our lives. Sure, we've got a crib box and mattress hanging around in our dining room and there are some meltingly tiny clothes on suitably tiny hangers in the closet, but it's the acquisition of this freezer that is really making me feel like a grown up.

Tomatoes Before Their 12 Hour Roast:
Tomatoes After Their 12 Hour Roast (please imagine amazing smell):

Slow Roasted Tomato Puree: