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This Tomato Confit is the perfect answer to an abundance of summer tomatoes. Sweet and jammy with a hit of garlic, they go perfectly over a bed of pesto and burrata. Serve this with Aperol Spritz, Limoncello Tiramisu and Pasta al Limone.
Summer is when joy thrives. I love walking through the farmer’s market and picking up ALL the fresh produce. I want everything from Watermelon Margaritas, Smash Burgers to this Easy Peach Cobbler.
What is Tomato Confit?
Cherry tomato confit is the magic that happens when you slow cook tomatoes in a bath of olive oil for a long period of time. It turns into sweet and very soft cherry tomatoes. It can be made on the stove but for this recipe we’re using the oven for a more hands off approach.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Tomato Confit
- Cherry tomatoes. You don’t *have* to use cherry tomatoes but they work best in this case.
- Olive oil. We’re cooking these at a pretty low oven heat so feel free to use extra-virgin olive oil or a good-quality olive oil.
- Garlic cloves. We want flavor!
For the rest of the ingredients, please see the recipe index card below!
How to Make Tomato Confit
- Preheat the oven and grab a baking dish to cook down the tomatoes, nothing too big because you want most of them to be submerged.
- Mix it all together. Add the tomatoes with the garlic, salt, red pepper flakes, and olive oil. Carefully mix it all together so everything is evenly distributed.
- Roast and Stir. Into the oven they go for 1 hour 15 minutes, until they’re very soft, making sure you stir every 15-20 minutes to make sure nobody burns.
- Let cool and serve. Let the mixture cool then serve or transfer to a container to store for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
What to Do with Tomato Confit
Tomato confit is a perfect way to use up cherry tomatoes before they go bad, here are some ways I love to use them:
- For breakfast, Just on a piece of toast with some olive oil fried eggs or poached egg.
- Cherry tomato confit pasta. Tossed with some pasta, either warm for a hot pasta dish or room temperature for a pasta salad.
- Ricotta Crostini. Just a dollop of ricotta with some of the confit for an easy appetizer.
- BLT Boost. Adding them in place of or in addition to fresh tomatoes on my recipe for a BLT is great alternative to the classic.
Recipe FAQs
The tomato confit lasts up to two weeks when stored in the fridge in an airtight container.
The tomato confit will solidify in the fridge but as soon as it’s added to pasta, a warm pan, etc, it completely liquifies very quickly.
Feel free to serve it with fresh mozzarella instead.
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Tomato Confit Recipe
Ingredients
Tomato Confit
- 2 pints of cherry tomatoes, stems removed
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 3/4 cup olive oil
Simple Pesto:
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan-Reggiano
- 4 cups basil leaves
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- Pinch of red crushed red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
To Serve:
- 1 ball, about 3 ounces of burrata
- Extra basil leaves, as garnish
- Pinch of crushed red pepper
- Flaky sea salt
- Toasted bread
Instructions
To Make the Tomato Confit:
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. In a large baking dish, add the cherry tomatoes, garlic, salt, crushed red pepper and olive oil. Give it a good mix and transfer to the oven to bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring the tomatoes every 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly before transferring it to a glass container.
To Make the Simple Pesto:
- To a small sautรฉ pan, set over medium-low heat, add the pine nuts. Toast until lightly golden brown. Immediately transfer to a food processor and allow to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and pulse for about 30 seconds. Add the Parmesan, basil leaves, olive oil, crushed red pepper and salt. Pulse for an additional minute or so. Give it a taste and adjust the salt to taste.
To Assemble:
- Add the pesto to a large serving bowl and smear it in an even layer. Open the ball of burrata and pull it apart in two pieces and place it on top of the pesto. Spoon a few tablespoons of the confit tomatoes on top of the burrata. Garnish with fresh little basil leaves, crushed red pepper and a few pinches of sea salt. Serve with slices of toasted bread.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
*This post was originally published on August 28th, 2018. It has been since updated with new information and formatting.
The tomato confit is killer! Definitely adding it to my repertoire ๐
yayy!! love this.
Loved this! It was my first time making pesto. We used our 3 different potted basil plants, one of which was on its way to plant heaven… Thanks for the timely recipe!
Cannot wait to try this, its beautiful and has to be so flavorful…I have never blanched my basil before making pesto, can you direct me on that? Does that process make the pesto more flavorful or is this step to insure its safety?
Yes! Make an ice bath (a big bowl of water with a few handfuls of ice added to it). Then bring a pot of water to a gentle boil. Get your tongs ready because this goes FAST! Add the basil to the water and allow to blanch for about 30 seconds. Then immediately transfer it to the bowl of ice water. And that’s it! I like to dry the basil off in a kitchen towels before I add it to the food processor (just so I don’t end up with watery pesto). That’s it!
It doesn’t make the pesto more flavorful–it just makes it more bright green. So it really might not be worth the extra effort–your call! ๐
I would not recommend blanching the basil… the leaves are so sensitive and delicate that we don’t even use scissors or knives to cut them up (before sprinkling onto, say, a salad) but simply tear them by hand. It might be that the basil sold and grown in Italy has less sturdy leaves but again, I would not recommend this. It is true that the heat deactivates the enzymes that make pesto grow dark, but the loss of flavor is so big it does not really pay off.
The secret to have a bright green pesto is to always always keep it cold and perfectly covered in oil. What makes pesto darken is the air – the crushed basil gets oxydated in no time (it’s the enzymes, again).
Just my two cents ๐
oooo Can’t wait to try it!!
Also, I’ve been wanting to get a basil plant but I’m worried about killing it! Are they easy to care for?
We made this for dinner tonight, along with a kale salad and local corn on the cob. It was magnificent! Thank you so much for the recipe
oh that sounds like the perfect pairing ever! so glad you loved it! xo