Name: Oven Roasted Tomatoes in Olive Oil and Balsamic
Prep time: 14400 min
Cook time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 lb roma tomatoes sliced lengthwise in half (approx 5 roma tomatoes); 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; salt and pepper to taste; 2 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional & to taste)

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The beauty about oven roasted tomatoes in olive oil is you can use them a variety of delicious Italian recipes! Whether you enjoy them in a salad or topped with mozzarella cheese or turn it into a sauce, you are never without options.

In this post, I’ll show you how easy it is to roast your tomatoes (I used plum/roma) whether you are choosing a very slow roasting method or a quicker roasted method.

In fact, I tested both roasting methods to see if there was any difference between the two.

Slow Roasting Tomatoes vs. Quick Roasting in the Oven

I bought a pound of roma plum tomatoes, that comes to about 5 full romas. Next time I’ll be sure to roast many more and keep them around for a few days to use in additional meals.

Simply slice the tomatoes in half lengthwise and after seasoning them with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper (I had to omit salt and pepper for dietary reasons) I placed half of the tomatoes on one sheet pan and the other half on another sheet pan.

The tomatoes are ready when they are firm, yet obviously cooked. Not brown or burnt. Easy to pierce.

How to Slow Roast Roma Tomatoes

For the slow roasting tomatoes, preheated the oven to 275F. Put the tomatoes in and let them roast for 2 hours and 15 minutes on Bake (not Convection) in order to get a standard cooking time.

How to Quick Roast the Tomatoes

When in a hurry, no one wants to wait around for over two hours.

So, for the quick roasting tomatoes I preheated my Black and Decker Convection Toaster Oven (since I don’t have two regular ovens) and baked those (non-convection setting) at 350F for 45 minutes.

The toaster oven was convenient and perfect for smaller batches.

I wanted to test if there were any differences between the two methods.

Results of Both Oven Roasting Tomato Methods

Well, in regards to taste, texture, look, and anything else you can think of…. they were EXACTLY the same.

So, since I’m all about simplicity, my recipe below will be for the method for Quick and Easy Roasting Tomatoes!

However, slow cooking our foods is known to have multiple health benefits such as retaining more nutrients.

At 275F for 2 hours most nutritional benefits have been reduced. So if you’d like to benefit from the slow cooking, I’d suggest reducing the temp to 225F for 3 hours.

Interesting note: According to an article at lifeextension.com, a 2018 meta-analysis* found cooked tomatoes and tomato sauce were associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer.