This was the first year that I grew tomatoes and had success. I followed a wise friend’s advice, and planted, fertilized, watered, and treated for bugs. I covered the plants with mesh so the birds wouldn’t eat them. That is key!
Out of 5 plants, I grew about 25 regular size tomatoes and 40 cherry tomatoes. The taste of that out of the garden tomato just cannot be matched with grocery store tomatoes.
I knew that when I had an abundance of them, I would not make sauce. Instead my friend Mary shared a recipe with me on how to roast tomatoes with olive oil, shallots, garlic and salt and pepper. I baked them in a low temperature oven for 3 hours.
Meanwhile, I made a batch of focaccia dough, let it rise and put it in the fridge for 2 days. When I was ready to bake it, I let the formed dough sit on the counter for 3 more hours, topped it with the roasted tomatoes and shallots and baked it in the oven. 20 minutes later, I spread a good amount of grated mozzarella on top and put it back into the oven for 5 minutes only until the cheese melted.
Here was one of the more perfect tomatoes.
After the final rising.
This dish was fabulous. Freezes well in parchment, then foil.
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