4 Bites: Confit tomatoes

Slow-roasting winter tomatoes in good olive oil concentrates their sweetness and renders them wickedly flavourful additions to salads and sandwiches, soups, stews and sauces. To say nothing of the pungently tasty tomato olive oil you now have ...

Confit tomatoes

1. To a large roasting dish add 5 punnets of coloured cherry tomatoes (or other toms), a fresh bundle of thyme, a few bay leaves, the zest and juice of 1 grapefruit or lemon and a small knob of thinly sliced ginger. Add enough extra virgin olive oil to cover tomatoes and roast in a 150C oven for 1 hour or more, until tomatoes have collapsed.
2. Cool the dish, pour off the oil and liquid into a bowl, spoon tomatoes into a large sterilised jar and seal. When cool, store jar in the fridge, they will keep for 2 weeks.
3. Separate the tomato oil from the tomato water and store both in fridge for future use. Makes 1 large jar of cooked tomatoes and a tall bottle of tomato oil. Get the recipe

Confit tomato bagel

1. Whip equal amounts of goat's cheese and creme fraiche (or cream cheese) with a little lemon zest and horseradish.
2. Spread on to a toasted bagel, top with a colourful array of confit tomatoes, fresh chervil or dill, and serve with a squeeze of lemon, sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper. Get the recipe

Tomato coconut curry sauce

1. Mix 1 Tbsp each of ground cumin, coriander, cardamom and garam masala with 1 tsp each of cayenne pepper (or chilli powder), ground turmeric and ground mace or nutmeg. Store in an airtight jar.
2. Evenly chop 1 onion, 2 celery stalks, 1 green capsicum, ¼ eggplant, 1 green chilli and a bunch of coriander stems. Smash 3 cloves garlic to a paste with 1 tsp salt and finely grate a 2cm piece of ginger and turmeric. Gently fry all in a little hot oil until fragrant. Add 2 Tbsp of the curry powder mix and a handful of curry leaves and cook with vegetables.
3. Add 1½ cups confit tomatoes and ⅔ cup coconut milk and simmer gently until everything is tender and the sauce is creamy. Season with lemon juice. Add big chunks of skin-on fish (terakihi, kahawai or otherwise) and simmer until fish is just cooked. Serve with rice. Get the recipe

Roasted vegetable salad

1. Evenly chop 1 fennel bulb, 1 scrubbed kumara, ½ an eggplant and 1-2 courgettes. Toss all with a big splash of the tomato oil (see confit tomato recipe), a small splash of red wine vinegar, sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper and roast in a hot oven, tossing frequently until everything is tender and coloured. Remove and rest 5 minutes.
2. Toss vegetables with ½ cup (or more) of the confit tomatoes, a handful of torn dill, chervil or parsley and serve as a side dish, or with pappardelle tossed with tomato oil and toasted walnuts. Serves 6. Get the recipe