My best-loved way to bring out the sweet intensity of tomatoes is to roast them. This method is one I only just discovered last summer. (I know…where have I been?!)
Roasted tomatoes are pure heaven. And I’m addicted.
It took awhile for our tomato plants to start producing this year, considering our crazy cold and wet spring. So we’ve only been enjoying tomatoes straight from the vine for a couple weeks here. I think September is trying to make up for April, May, and June, as the past couple weeks have been an absolute outdoor delight.
So, a bit delayed by Mother Nature, I offer you this bowl of summer yum…Roasted Tomato Tapenade. I took my go-to roasted tomatoes recipe, added some dark and delectable Kalamata olives, and revved it up a bit. Vroom! Vroom!
We savored this flavorful tapenade on crostini, accompanying grilled steaks. And atop grilled chicken breasts a couple nights later. If there had been any more left, I had imagined tossing it with pasta for a quick weeknight meal, or spreading it on a grilled sandwich. Its concentrated flavor would have made the ordinary extraordinary.
Obviously, the better the tomato, the better the flavor of the tapenade. However, there really is something magical about roasting tomatoes, and I’m confident that this dish could be successfully served in the dead of winter, too. But if you still have tomatoes basking in your garden’s warm September sunshine, I highly recommend getting on this right now. Vroom! Vroom!
Here’s another tomato recipe that our family loves: Sun Dried Tomato Pasta features both fresh cherry tomatoes and sun dried tomatoes.
Roasted Tomato Tapenade
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. small tomatoes cut into 1” pieces (Romas work great, or any other smaller sweet variety)
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 T. balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tsp. brown sugar
- ½ c. chopped Kalamata olives
- ¼ tsp. hot pepper flakes
- 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh basil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°. Cover a jelly roll pan or roasting pan with heavy duty foil for easy clean up.
- Combine the cut tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and brown sugar right in your pan. Roast for about 25 minutes, or until the tomatoes slump and the juices are bubbling. Remove pan from the oven and set aside to cool a bit.
- Once you can comfortably handle the tomatoes, place them on a cutting board and chop them a bit more finely. This can get a bit messy, so try to leave as much of the juice as you can in the pan – but don’t throw the juice!
- Transfer tomatoes to a small bowl. Then add juice from the roasting pan, olives, hot pepper flakes, thyme, rosemary, and basil. Stir gently to fully combine. Store covered in a nonreactive container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Nutrition Information:
I absolutely love this tapenade! I actually made it for my family when I came back to town during my university’s Christmas break and everyone (including myself) fell in LOVE. I was wondering if you had ever tried adding a meat to it such as an italian sausage or pancetta? I am making this for my boyfriend who is def a “meat and potatoes” type of guy, so I’m in the process of subtly turning him out haha. Thanks!
I love the idea of the roasted tomato, olive tapenade. I am wondering if I can can it and how long would you suggest and would it be WB or PC. Just found your luscious site. I can see it now. will need to put a napkin on the keyboard from drooling. Take care.
Hello, Cindi – great to hear from you! I haven’t canned this tapenade, but have frozen recipes that are similar, and then thawed for use in soups and sauces. If you come up with a way to safely can this, I’d love to hear about it!
Oh my goodness this just looks so delicious! Here in Tennessee we are still harvesting our tomatoes and I am so excited to make this recipe!! Thanks!!
Our weather has been perfect, and my tomato plants have been yielding far longer than I had expected. Last week I put together this fantastic recipe. I purposefully doubled the batch so that I would have enough to share. My girlfriend popped over to take half home to her family. This was a great way to dress up our weekend grilling, and spread a little cheer!
I love to hear that you shared this with a friend. Thanks for letting me know you liked this!
I’m Drooling.
I can’t wait to try this one out. I’m going to try with a meatball sandwich!
Honestly, this stuff is amazing. I can’t tell you how many times I have made this in the past 2 weeks. My family loves it (even my 6yr old). My friends love it. I even made it and brought it to a food swap I am part of. It was a hit. De-licious!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I appreciate your taking the time to come back to let me know. Hope you’re having a great week, Becky.
this looks so delicious. My kind of food!
I just found your website through Tasty Kitchen and I have looked at the whole thing from ‘cover to cover’ so to speak. I really love this blog and your photos are wonderful. Thanks for sharing your talents and great recipes. And by the way, is there anything more delicious than roasted tomatoes? Amazing.
Hello, Terri – wonderful to meet you – and thank you so much!
I love tapenade’s. This photo is stunning, Brenda!
I so love me some roasted tomatoes, it’s like candy! This tapenade would be perfect for holiday entertaining.
That tapenade looks way better than the typical olive type we so often see and one my husband would actually like! It looks really great.
That looks lovely and will be on my list of things to make at the weekend. I make a condiment from the brilliant Yotem Ottolenghi which I’ve made over and over again and it always goes down a storm. Here is the link to the original Steak sandwich with the chili and coriander jam condiment http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/21/steak-sandwich-recipe-yotam-ottolenghi It is so good, you’ll find you want to spread it over just about everything: meat, fish, pasta, jacket potato, couscous – the list is endless. This is why I’ve made sure there’ll be some left over.
This tapenade looks incredible! I love the idea of roasting the tomatoes!
Wonderful roasted tomato tapenade. I loved the recipe and this is looking delish!
Thank you so much!
Found you from the Tidy Mom linky. Anything with tomatoes works for me–so your recipe drew me in. I just got back from Italy and did a post all about the food there. I think you’ll like it, and I’d love for you to link up this delish recipe on Momtrends’ Friday Food. Ciao!
http://www.momtrends.com/2011/09/lake-como-food-highlights/
Yay for TidyMom! Thanks for saying hi, hope you’re having a great weekend!
I’m dying for some of this now. I’m going to have to get some tomatoes at the market this weekend.
I love this. I’m always drooling when I walk by tapenades at the market or at the grocery store. Obviously I need to just make my own, and this looks like the perfect place to start.
Thanks, Shaina! Hope to see you today?!
This looks amazing! Makes me wish we had planted tomatoes after all this year. Our garden was a little too big last year so I felt like I needed a break but now I miss all the lovely garden tomatoes. Gorgeous!
Thank you, Katie – so nice to hear from you. I don’t think my girls will ever let me not plant tomatoes. They love the small ones and can often be found “snacking” in the garden. But I agree, gardens are alot of work. Every fall I tell myself that next spring’s garden will be much smaller.
That picture with the crostini is beautiful and I can only imagine how good this tasted on your chicken. I’m betting that the rest of your tomatoes end up in Roasted Tapenade…if only to have it with pasta next!
Thanks, Paula. Atop chicken was my favorite way to eat it, actually. Scrumptious! Have a great weekend!