Slow roasted balsamic tomatoes

I'm alive! I apologise for my week's absence. I am a terrible, terrible person.

Only kidding, but I have been very busy. Last weekend I was down south at my boyfriend's cousin's wedding, which was a blast (did I just say that?). I don't tend to post personal photos on here, but I'm going to break the mould today because I really like this photo:

(please excuse the camera phone quality)

(also excuse the ridiculously large flower in my hair. I figured you have to have a stupid thing on your head at a wedding, right? And at least I didn't look like this)

Since then, I have been working the 4am shift at work all week, and this time it seems to have taken its toll because I'm ill. Boohoo. My head feels like a balloon that is about to explode. After I finish this post, I am definitely going back to bed. The things I do for you guys, puh.

Unfortunately, being ill has made me lose my appetite (I KNOW, it must be really serious). My mouth tastes weirdly metallic, and I don't feel like eating anything. Buuut, I can assure you that when I made these a few days ago, they were delicious.

I'm sure you've all roasted tomatoes before, and can therefore appreciate how simply sticking a tomato in the oven for an hour turns it from a somewhat watery, tasteless, cold thing into a warm bubble of deliciousness (ha. I think this illness is messing with my brain too).

Slow roasting is just like normal roasting, except it lasts longer... which can only be a good thing, surely? They come out of the oven sweet and juicy. And when drizzled in balsamic before roasting, the juice that collects in the bottom of the pan is amazing. Don't you dare pour it away.

You can serve these little beauties in any way you like - in a sandwich (with halloumi, perhaps?), in a frittata or quiche, in a salad (maybe a caprese?), on cheese on toast... endless possibilities. I went for the most predictable option, and served them over a simple pesto pasta.

These tomatoes definitely served to liven up an incredibly simple dish. Sometimes adding veggies to a dish can be a chore (only sometimes... I am a vegetarian after all, it'd be a bit boring if I never liked vegetables), but you'll want to add these to everything.

To the eagle eyed among you: yes, there are two types of pasta there. I'd love to be able to say that it was a carefully considered stylistic choice, but actually we just didn't have enough spaghetti for two people so I mixed in some penne too. That's realism, people.

Now, off I go to attempt to sleep and pretend that the throbbing in my head isn't real.



Slow roasted balsamic tomatoes

Serves 2-3

300g cherry tomatoes
3tbsp olive oil
2tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt, to taste

Preheat the oven to 150°C (Gas Mark 2 / 300°F). Toss the tomatoes in the olive oil and balsamic, and lay them out in a single layer on a baking tray. Sprinkle with salt. Roast for around 2 1/2 hours - the timing doesn't need to be at all precise, so just take them out whenever you are ready.