Easy to make Cherry Tomato confit
It is likely you have heard of ‘confit’. This French cooking technique is used with any type of food that is cooked slowly over a long period of time as a method of preservation. The term is usually used in modern cuisine to mean long slow cooking in oil or fat at low temperatures.
This method of preservation dates to prehistoric times, and was mainly used during the winter months to ensure enough food was stored.
If you have not made confit before, tomatoes are easy to start with for your first confit experience.
Don’t confuse confit with slow roasted tomatoes. This way of cooking, or it’s sometimes referred to as ‘confir’, will bring out the sweetness of the fruit and it will concentrate the flavours. The process requires precision, and it takes time to confit, but the oven does the bulk of the work, just don’t forget your timer!
Why using cherry tomatoes?
Depending on the season, tomatoes can contain lots of water and have next to no taste or aroma. Cherry tomatoes are commonly a little sweeter and they usually are firm so they won’t fall in pieces while making a confit.
How to store tomato confit?
Confit this summer using the available sizes and colours of tomatoes to make the most of your confit experience! Once tomatoes are confit, they will keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container or jar for up to 3 weeks.
How to serve tomato confit?
These will elevate many dishes such as salads and pasta or as a topping on any pizza. It is equally delicious to serve them on a brushetta with a little basil pesto or even coriander pesto.
Also read other tomato petals confit
Cherry Tomato confit
EQUIPMENT (click pictures for details)
Ingredients
- 500 gr cherry or grape tomatoes
- 3-4 pcs garlic cloves
- 6-8 pcs sprigs of thyme
- 1 bottle olive oil
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp icing sugar optional
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Place the washed tomatoes, garlic cloves and thyme into a baking dish, and sprinkle with salt, icing sugar and a good pinch of ground white pepper.
- Add the balsamic vinegar and generously pour the olive oil until the tomatoes are halfway submerged.
- Bake the tomatoes at 120°C (250°F) for 60 – 90 minutes until they are wrinkled but not burst.
- Once the tomatoes are cooked, remove from the oven and cool at room temperature.
- Transfer them with the oil into an airtight container and refrigerate.
Notes
- Any tomato can be confit, cherry, Roma, grape, plum …. whole, sliced or quartered. The tomatoes need to be fresh, ripe and with a natural flavour.
- The icing sugar should only be added if the natural taste of the tomatoes is not sweet enough.