Cherry Tomato Confit
Cherry tomatoes are booming, bright, and sweet. When they are plentiful make cherry tomato confit and use it as a topping for roasted fish, a quick pasta sauce, or an alternative topping for fresh mozzarella or burrata. The resulting slurry of sweet tomatoes is hard to beat as a topping, side, or by the spoonful. And it’s easy to make.
I found this recipe in SaltFatAcidHeat by Samin Nosrat and modified to my liking. If you don’t have this book, go get it. You will realize how much you know about cooking and soar with the cooking tips you don’t know. It will make you a better and beautiful cook.
To make this delectable confit, gather up these ingredients:
4 cups cherry tomatoes
Small handful fresh basil leaves or stems (which are super flavorful)
4 garlic cloves
Salt and pepper
2 cups extra-virgin olive oil (you can save the extra oil to make a salad dressing, to fry eggs, or as a drizzle for fish)
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F.
Lay the cherry tomatoes into a shallow baking dish in a single layer over the basil leaves or stems and garlic. Cover the tomatoes with about 2 cups of olive oil or enough oil to surround and contact all the tomatoes. They don’t need to be submerged in oil, they just need to be surrounded by oil at the base. Season the tomates liberally with salt (about a teaspoon), a few grinds of pepper. Give the mix a stir. Stick the baking pan in the over for 35-40 minutes. You don’t want the dish to boil. A simmer is fine, but not a boil.
The confit is done when the tomatoes are tender all the way through when pierced with a fork and the skin starts to split. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and let them cool a bit. Remove the basil stems before using.
Serve the confit warm, or at room temperature. Keep what you don’t use in the fridge, in the oil, for up to 5 days. Use the leftover oil to fry eggs, to make a salad dressing, or as a drizzle for fish or chicken.
Once the confit is done you can bake halibut in the oil by removing the tomatoes and setting them aside. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the skin from the halibut fillet and place it in the baking dish with the confit oil. Sprinkle a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper over the halibut. Bake the fish for 12-14 minutes. Baste the halibut with the oil after 6 minutes. The fish is done when it flakes with a fork. Remove the fish from the oven and top with the tomato confit. Baste with the oil and serve immediately.