Confit Tomatoes with Garlic and Basil

The recent rains have caused some of the ripening tomatoes to split from excess moisture. Not pretty enough for a salad. Too rough to put up as they are.  The Solution? Poach them in olive oil! Poaching in fat can be considered confit – although purists may reserve that term for duck. Basil and a lot of garlic won’t hurt either. They should keep about a week, more if topped off  (covered) with oil. Or freeze them!

Even if your tomatoes are perfect, this is an interesting way to use them up! It takes a few hours, but slow roasting them in olive oil results in a sweet result.

Confit Tomatoes with Garlic and Basil

A bunch of Tomatoes  – Imperfect is OK, just keep cutting them in half or big chunks, until the pan you choose is one layer deep.
A large bunch of basil chopped
4+ cloves of garlic – chopped
1/2+ tsp of salt (to taste)
1/2 -3/4 cup olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 300F – 150C
2. Slice tomatoes and put in oven proof pan. Sprinkle with salt.


I gathered some basil from the kitchen garden.


3. Chop the garlic and basil. Sprinkle over the top of the tomatoes
4. Add a good amount of olive oil, I used about 1/2 a cup
5. Put it in the oven. After an hour take it out and give it a stir
6. Put it back in the oven. Then again, depending on texture you want you could be done now. I like the tomatoes to almost melt, you might like them with a little more body
7. An hour later, take it out and let cool to room temperature

Put in a clean jar or other container. Use this sweet condiment in soups, with pasta, drained on toast, eggs, or sandwiches.

Use your imagination.

As I said, you can also freeze it, use thawed tomatoes on pasta and soups.

Until next time, eat well and keep digging.