Roasted tomatoes on toast

In his first cookbook, Gather, Gill Meller shows you how to make the most delicious things with produce from the surrounding area. This toast with tomato, tarragon and thyme shows that you don’t need many ingredients at all for a delicious meal.

Gill Meller about this dish in his book: “I think it’s a beautiful idea that something can become bigger, more powerful, fuller and more intense when it shrinks, softens and breaks down – it seems very ironic. That’s exactly what happens when you bake sweet, ripe tomatoes in a warm oven. Everything about the tomatoes becomes more intense: the colour, the sweetness and the complexity. The heat caramelises them, but also gives them something bitter. Tarragon has a very intense flavour and tastes delicious with tomatoes, so I add quite a lot. During baking, it imparts flavour to the tomatoes.”

Method

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. Cut the large tomatoes into four or eight wedges and halve a handful of small tomatoes. Place them on a baking tray, cut side up. Leave the rest of the tomatoes whole and distribute them over the baking tray. Tuck the whole garlic cloves between the tomatoes.

Leave the tender herb stems intact and strip the leaves from the tougher stems. Discard the tough stems and scatter the tender stems and picked leaves over the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place the baking tray in the oven for 1½ to 2 hours, until the tomatoes have collapsed and caramelised. Remove the tomatoes from the oven as soon as they are ready and let them cool for a few minutes while you toast the bread. Top the bread with the soft tomatoes, a few garlic cloves, some cooking juices and plenty of crispy herbs, and serve immediately.

Gather
Gill Meller
€ 29,95
Good Cook B.V.

Photography: Andrew Montgomery