[Family recipes] Confit Cherry Tomatoes

I am back, finally.

Summer has been quite rough, over here. My mother-in-law fell seriously ill at the beginning of July. We have gone through some very hard times.

There was hope first and then suffering and sadness and despair and we had to tell her our last goodbye early in August. She passed away after only a month of illness and this really upset us all.

We all needed some mending. 

We took some weeks for ourselves and started living again. It was as if we actually had to learn how to live again. We had to learn how to do the same things we did before, just in a different way. We had to learn to carry around this big, heavy pain in our hearts, without letting it ruin our days. We simply had to start living a new life. And learn how to be happy again.

Every one of us found its way to begin again. For me, the key was doing simple things.

I went to the beach early in the morning and enjoyed a long, quiet swim. I walked the dog a bit more often and let her play a bit wilder, just for the fun of it. I went to the mountains and walked up the trails I love. I read some of my favorite books and listened to the songs of my heart.

And then there was cooking. 

I am not much of a cook, but I really love cooking. If I have time and no need to hurry, then cooking becomes one of the most relaxing and enjoyable activities ever. Some kind of meditation, if I may say so. Luckily, the end of summer involves a lot of cooking – on this side of the world. The vegetable garden is in full swing and all the produce needs to be saved for winter. Time for making salsa, for pickling, and for other recipes of this kind.

Definitely time to put summer in a jar! 

One of my favorite ways to do it is to prepare confit cherry tomatoes. It is incredibly easy and the result is tasty and summery. There are just four steps and you’re done. A piece of cake, really.

1. You need your cherry tomatoes. I picked them from my garden, but if you haven’t got one, just make sure to buy them organic at a local farmers’ market. Then carefully wash them and let them dry.

2. Cut the tomatoes in half, place them on a baking tray, dust them with some sugar, salt, oregano, thyme, and a little olive oil. Cook them in the oven at 140° for at least a couple of hours.

3. Let the tomatoes cool down and put them under olive oil in a no-air jar. Keep them in the fridge and always make sure they are completely covered in oil.

4. Eat them on your pasta, as in the first picture of this post, or spoon them over some toasted bread slices. It will bring some summer back, even if you are in the middle of the fall.

If you try them, just let me know what you think. I’d love to hear your opinion!