Red Stick Spice Company's Roasted Tomato Recipe

tsg-Red-Stick-Spice-Tomato-RecipeAt markets, tomatoes are practically overflowing from produce displays right into our baskets (and, for those of us who have green thumbs, they’re falling off the vines in our gardens), creating a late-August abundance of fresh deliciousness in our kitchens that we can barely keep up with. While we do our best to take advantage of the raw fruit at its peak via salads, BLTs, and other tomato-friendly dishes, sometimes we find ourselves having trouble keeping up with our purchased or homegrown bounty. Therefore, having a simple recipe on hand that can utilize a lot of tomatoes and help them reach their full potential goes a long way toward satisfying our taste buds while also assuaging our guilty consciences, and Baton Rouge-based Red Stick Spice Company‘s recipe for roasted tomatoes definitely fits the bill.

Created by Red Stick Spice Company owner Anne Milneck, the recipe is wonderfully simple, and can be used and adapted in a variety of ways. Milneck recommends using the roasted tomatoes in their “chunky, salsa-like state” as a side, a stir-in for pasta, a topping for chicken or fish, or pureed into a homemade version of a jarred marinara. Be sure to check out her tips below for spices and blends that will tailor the recipe to a few specific dishes or suit your personal tastes.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes (enough to cover a baking sheet)
Basil Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Optional: 1/2 sliced onion, 6 peeled garlic cloves, loose handful of fresh basil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Quarter medium and large tomatoes, halve cherry or grape tomatoes, and place cut-side up on a baking sheet. It’s okay if the tomatoes are crowded.
3. Drizzle tomatoes with a heavy dose of olive oil and season with two generous pinches of salt and several generous grinds of black pepper
4. Add optional aromatics and herbs.
5. Roast tomatoes uncovered for two to three hours, until they are blistered and bursting and releasing their juices. The tomatoes should be shriveled, very soft, and fragrant.

Anne Milneck’s recommendations for additional spices:
Red Stick Spice Company uses local ingredients and fresh spices and sources custom blends and rubs from local chefs, grill masters, regional farmers, and their own in-house experts, so you can rest assured Milneck’s recommendations will truly take things up a notch.

To give the tomatoes a spicy or mediterranean kick: Tuscan Blend would be great to add to the tomatoes when used with pasta or as a dipping sauce with a nice warm, crusty loaf of focaccia. For those who might not want as much spice, our Vegetable and Pizza Seasoning would be a great choice. For something really rich and savory, Soprano’s Deliza fits the bill. Walnuts are ground into this Mediterranean blend, which gives it a meaty richness.

For some smokiness: Simply add a little Smoked Sweet Paprika. According to Milneck, this ingredient is the “in” thing right now…and for good reason. “This is a must-have for the kitchen,” Milneck says. “It would be a great addition to this sauce. And I guarantee cooks will find many other ways to use it. Paprika is naturally sweet, so the smoking process leads to a very sultry, smoky-sweet end result.”

Red Stick Spice Company // Baton Rouge, LA // 225.930.9967