FOOD NEWS
Make Better Roasted Tomatoes With These 13 Tips
BY ABIGAIL BLISS
Fresh Tomatoes
Since canned tomatoes contain excess liquid, their taste and texture will always be subpar to the fresh ones. It's better to use fresh tomatoes from the garden.
Select ripe tomatoes that are glossy, bright red without any green spots, and firm to the touch. The tomatoes that feel similar to a ripe peach are prime for roasting.
Smaller Tomatoes
Avoid juicy tomato varieties. Smaller, low-moisture varieties like plum tomatoes offer a hearty, umami-rich flavor and fewer seeds, which is ideal for roasting.
Moreover, they have tender skin that doesn't need to be peeled before cooking. Similar characteristics are also evident in cocktail tomatoes and cherry tomatoes.
Store Properly
Don't store hard or partially green tomatoes in the fridge, as temperatures below 55 F will halt their development. Let them ripe on the counter before refrigerating.
Ripe tomatoes start degrading within a week on the counter, so cook them within this period. If you store them in the fridge, let them return to room temperature before cooking.
Slice Tomatoes
If you don't slice or prick tomatoes before putting them in the oven, steam will build up inside them, and they'll burst, making a mess of your appliance.
Additionally, the excess liquid may steam your tomatoes, rather than roast them, resulting in a different texture and less concentrated flavor.
Line The Pan
Save yourself some serious dishwashing effort by lining your sheet pan with a silicone mat, as seepage is unavoidable even when roasting low-moisture tomato varieties.
Additionally, a bit of browning is inevitable when roasting tomatoes in the oven or an air fryer. Without a liner between your tomatoes and the pan, the produce is likely to stick.