What To Do With All Those Cherry Tomatoes!

My favorite variety of tomato to grow is one called Sungold. It's an orange cherry tomato that is delicate and sweet with just the right balance of acid. It also bears gobs of fruit and keeps going until frost. It doesn't succumb to early blight, late blight, or not-living-right blight. It just keeps going! The skin is so thin that if we get a lot of rain or if it gets overwatered, the skin will burst. It is the most dependable and delicious tomato I have ever grown. I can't give a higher recommendation than that.

So now you're growing it or some other great-tasting cherry tomato, and you have no idea what to do with all these tomatoes. Here are some things I do. (None of them involve Ranch Dressing.)

• Eat them right off the vine. Just please make sure you are not ever, ever, EVER using pesticides on them!
• 
  Make a fresh sauce for pasta.
  Cut the tomatoes in half and put in a bowl. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder or fresh garlic, and lemon juice. Drizzle on a little olive oil if you like. I usually have a little oil from roasted garlic.
  You can also add any other herb that you like. I use basil or cilantro and thyme. Sometimes I add cumin. Use what you like.  Let it sit for at least 15 or 20 minutes in a bowl.
  Cook the pasta. (I like angel hair for this.) Drain and put on plate. Spoon the tomato mixture on top. The warmth of the pasta will slightly warm the tomatoes and will finish bringing out all those luscious flavors.  I like to add parmesan, but grated sharp cheddar is great too!
  
  
• Roast them!  Heat the oven to about 450 degrees. Wash the tomatoes and put them whole in a black skillet. Drizzle some olive oil over it and add a fair amount of salt. If you have fresh garlic cloves, peel them and put them in whole. Cook it till everything gets darker. You want some caramelization; that's where the best flavor is! The tomatoes will burst on their own. You can stir as you see fit to get browning on more side.  When it's done, you can use it over pasta or on bruschetta... I promise you will lay up in bed thinking about this stuff; it's that good! If you don't need it that day or if there is some left, just put it in a jar in the fridge. It will keep for at least a week-maybe more.

• Blister them.  Heat a skillet to medium and drizzle olive oil across the bottom. Throw in a single layer of cherry tomatoes and toss them.  Add salt and and let cook for a few minutes giving them just enough time to start to slightly brown on the bottom before tossing them again.  Add garlic powder here.  Just before you remove the tomatoes from the pan, take your spatula and sort of smash a few just enough for them to burst.  Serve over hot pasta or even on toast.  Finish by drizzling a little fresh lemon juice over the dish. 

• Dry them. You know those sun-dried tomatoes that are so expensive? You can easily make your own, and cherry tomatoes will taste better dried than paste tomatoes! Drying really concentrates the flavor. Think tomato raisins.You will need either a dehydrator, or some folks use their oven at a low, low temperature with the door propped open with a wooden spoon. I only have experience with a dehydrator.  Cut the tomatoes in half. I like to sprinkle a little bit of salt, but that's just me. Put them in single layers on dehydrator trays. Eight hours will probably be enough. You want to pull them out when they are leathery—dry but bendable but not brittle. Put them in a jar and keep in the fridge. They will last for months! My favorite ways to use them are on pizza or pasta. Some folks reconstitute them, but I'd rather just throw them on just like they are.

I love tomatoes. If you are reading this you probably do too. The number one vegetable people grow at home is tomatoes because you can't BUY one that's even comes close to one you grow at home.