We had a garden this year, for the first time in many. I planted two tomatoes, both of which I was assured did not need staking. Foolish me.
We now have a sprawling tomato jungle, which has overrun the pepper plants and invaded the raspberries. It's been very hot here, so the crop is quite heavy. We planted a Siletz slicing tomato, mildly prolific and quite good medium-large fruits, and, new to me, a Russian paste tomato called Black Plum. I am telling you, this paste tomato is trying to overwhelm us. It is absolutely loaded, but since I only have the one plant I don't really have enough to can. And I still don't think I'm quite up to canning, anyway. Maybe next year. I will keep hoping.
Anyway, what to do with this ridiculous glut of tomatoes? Roast them.
Oil a baking pan. Turn on your oven to 250F. Cut your tomatoes in half. If you have cherry tomatoes, just throw them on the sheet whole. If you have basil, chop it up and sprinkle it lavishly. Drizzle with olive oil; salt and pepper to taste. Throw in the oven and forget about them until they look like this:
You may note missing tomatoes. That is because as soon as they come out of the oven people start devouring them. These went in around 11 am and stayed in till 7 pm.
Some of these tomatoes were green. They come out not as sweet/tangy as the ripe ones, but more of a peppery, spicy flavor. They're different but good.