Roasted cherry tomatoes turn luscious when roasted at high eat

Should you find yourself in the enviable position of having too many cherry tomatoes — you got bedazzled at the farm stand, your garden is an overachiever or maybe the grocery store had a sale — here’s a strategy for you: Toss them on a sheet pan, drizzle exuberantly with olive oil, season and then roast at high heat.

Along with plenty of olive oil, the intense heat transforms the tomatoes from simple and sweet to nuanced and deeply flavored. While not technically a “confit,” which means the ingredient has been slowly cooked in fat so it absorbs, and is partially preserved by it, the roasted tomatoes will be fragrant and luscious.

Get the recipe: Roasted Cherry Tomato Confit

Any variety of cherry tomato will work well except “grape” type, which are not as juicy as their rounder cousins. If you want to use grape tomatoes, mix them with rounder varieties. To keep the consistency uniform and juicy, halve larger tomatoes and use a mix of colors and shapes. Each type of cherry tomato has its own personality; I highly recommend Sungolds — for an eye-catching complex-tasting confit.

For seasoning, I generally stick to salt, but a bit of cracked black pepper, Aleppo pepper or dried chile flakes would be nice. For herbs, I like thyme, rosemary or both, but marjoram, oregano or savory also work well. Tender, leafy herbs — such as tomato’s BFF basil — should be added after cooking to avoid burning. Whole garlic cloves can also be dreamy, provided they don’t burn; you may need to do some scooching to keep them bathed in oil and juice.

You may find yourself eating the finished confit right from the sheet pan, but hold back — the destinations for roasted tomato confit are many and varied, and include any dish that would benefit from its sweet-tart flavor and the richness of the olive oil and tomato juice.

Here are a few ideas:

Get the recipe: Roasted Cherry Tomato Confit