If tomatoes are in season and you've got a few hours to spare, these garlicky slow-roasted tomatoes are well worth the time—and perfect for pizza.
A long, gentle roast mellows the tomatoes' acidity, concentrates their flavor, and transforms their texture from watery and bright to jammy and rich, an ideal topping for stretched or rolled out pizza dough. Add a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and shredded or cubed mozzarella, and you've got the summery pizza of your dreams.
The process
The only real work here is planning ahead and prepping the tomatoes. Low-and-slow cooking does the rest.
- Chop tomatoes. Choose the ripest, most vibrant tomatoes you can find. As they roast, their flavors will intensify, so you want to start with fruits that taste good to begin with (not those pinkish-orange, watery ones available year round). If you're using my favorite, cherry tomatoes, simply cut them in half. If you have bigger tomatoes like Beefsteak, plum, or heirloom, core them and cut them into 1-inch cubes.
- Spread them out and drizzle with oil. Preheat the oven, dump the tomatoes onto a parchment- or foil-lined baking sheet, add unpeeled garlic cloves, and toss everything with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Roast low and slow. Roast the tomatoes until they're wrinkly and deflated but still have some moisture. This takes about 2 hours for cherry tomatoes, which contain less water, and about 2½ hours for bigger, higher-moisture tomatoes.
How to Use Slow-Roasted Tomatoes on Pizza
- Preheat the oven to 500°F (if using a baking sheet) or as high as it will go (if using a baking stone/steel; place the stone in the middle or place the steel in the bottom third of the oven before you start preheating). Let the oven preheat for about 30 minutes. Then, if you’re using a baking stone or steel, switch the oven to Broil on high.
- Stretch or roll out your dough to a 12- to 14-inch circle, then transfer it to a baking sheet / pizza pan or a lightly floured pizza peel (if using a baking stone/steel).
- Brush the dough with a thin layer of olive oil (or the cooking juices/oils from the slow-roasted tomatoes' baking sheet). Scatter ¾ cup of the tomatoes on the dough, leaving a ½-inch border of dough all the way around, then season with salt and pepper and sprinkle 1 cup shredded or cubed mozzarella cheese over top.
- Transfer the pizza to the oven and bake until the crust is evenly browned across the bottom and the cheese and toppings have browned in spots—8 or 9 minutes on the baking sheet, 5 to 8 minutes on the baking stone/steel.
- Take the pizza out of the oven, let it cool down for 5 minutes or so, then sprinkle with the chopped fresh basil. Slice and serve.
Slow-Roasted Tomatoes Pizza Topping
After a long roast in a low-temp oven, fresh tomatoes lose their bright acidity and double down on sweetness, transforming into a rich, jammy condiment perfect for spreading on pizza dough, toast, or crackers (or stirring into pasta . . . or scattering over salads and grain bowls). Technically, you can skip the roasted garlic, but I think that pop of umami takes these tomatoes to a whole new level.
Makes: 1.5 to 2 cups
Cost: $15
Equipment
- Cutting board and knife
- 1 large rimmed baking sheet
- Parchment paper or aluminum foil
Ingredients
- 2 to 2.5 pounds ripe cherry tomatoes or heirloom tomatoes (use whatever variety you have a lot of)
- 1 head garlic, cloves removed, still in their peels
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275℉ with a rack in the middle position. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment or aluminum foil.
- Cut the cherry tomatoes in half; core and chop larger tomatoes into 1- to 1½-inch cubes.
- Dump the chopped tomatoes onto the baking sheet, along with the unpeeled garlic cloves. Drizzle with enough olive oil to coat everything, season with 2 teaspoons salt and a few grinds of black pepper, and toss with two spatulas or your hands until all the pieces are shiny with oil.
- Spread the tomatoes in an even layer and roast for 2 to 2½ hours, stirring occasionally, until they are wrinkly and jammy in texture but not totally dried out. At this point, you should see some caramelization around the edges, and the chopped larger tomatoes will look like chunky sauce.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven, cover with foil (so you don't lose moisture), and let the tomatoes cool at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Take off the foil, peel the roasted garlic cloves, mash them in a small bowl, and stir them into the roasted tomatoes before using or storing.
- To store the slow-roasted tomatoes for later, scrape them into an airtight container, drizzle a little olive oil over top, seal, and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Alternatively, scoop them into muffin cups, freeze for 2 to 3 hours, until solid, then pop them into a zip-top bag and store in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Notes
- If you're using this instead of sauce, you'll need ⅔ to 1 cup slow-roasted tomatoes for one (12- to 14-inch) pizza.
- Stir leftover slow-roasted tomatoes into pasta, spread them on toast, or scoop them up with crackers or pita chips.
Need other pizza topping ideas? Try these, too:
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