This is one of the easiest and most delicious recipes I’ve tried. I think the reason it’s so delicious is because the flavor of the cherry tomatoes is dominant, and the combination of sweet and tart reminds us of summer days at any time of the year.  It’s great on its own, as a simple sauce for pasta, gnocchi, or a slice of crusty bread.  But it can also be used as a basis for many other recipes, including a mussel soup.

The confit can be stored in your refrigerator for up to two weeks, so I always buy several pounds of the cherry tomatoes and make a big batch. I’ve never actually made it to the two-week mark without using all the confit in one recipe or another.

Tomatoes, basil, olive oil, and garlic

The ingredients all go into one pot at the same time.

Ingredients

  • 4 lbs. of cherry tomatoes (I use a mix of red, yellow, and orange tomatoes because they each have different levels of acidity. The brand “Wild Wonders,” available almost anywhere in the US, works very well.)
  • Good quality extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 full head of garlic, skin on, sliced horizontally
  • 2 bunches of fresh basil
  • Salt and black pepper to taste

If you want to prepare a lot, just buy more tomatoes, and use a larger casserole dish!

Preparation

Pre-heat your oven to 250° F.

After cooking, the cherry tomatoes are still whole. the sauce is a combination of juice and olive oil.

Cooked confit of cherry tomatoes. After cooking, the cherry tomatoes are still whole. the sauce is a combination of juice and olive oil.

  1. Wash the cherry tomatoes and put them into a deep-dish casserole or a Dutch oven.
  2. Pour enough olive oil to fill about 1/3 of the casserole containing the tomatoes.
  3. Add salt and black pepper, then mix the tomatoes gently so that each one is coated with oil and the salt and pepper are distributed.
  4. Now insert the garlic heads and basil into the casserole, covering them with the tomatoes.
  5. Put the casserole into the oven uncovered and cook for about one and a half hours.
  6. Cover the dish without disturbing the contents and let them cook for another 30 minutes.
  7. Remove the casserole dish from the oven. You’ll see that the tomatoes remain whole, but a lot of the juice from the tomatoes will fill mix with the olive oil, creating a delicately flavored sauce. Allow to cool and then remove all the garlic cloves from the mixture. (Leaving in the garlic will change the flavor of the dish because it overpowers the tomatoes.) That’s it!  I like it best when I prepare the confit the day before and then refrigerate it overnight.  The flavors combine into a more subtle sauce.

Mussel Soup with Cherry Tomato Confit

This is a wonderful, fast recipe. I recently hosted a dinner party, and everyone loved it and asked for more!

Ingredients

  • Confit of cherry tomatoes (4 cups)
  • 3 lbs. fresh mussels, cleaned and bearded
  • Fresh minced parsley (as a garnish)
  • Black pepper and salt to taste
  • 1 bunch of fresh basil

Preparation

  1. In a medium-sized pot with a tight lid (for example, a 15-quart pot), add the confit of cherry tomatoes.
  2. Bring them to a gentle boil on medium heat. As soon as they start to boil, add the fresh mussels and the basil. Gently stir to combine them with the confit. Cover the pot.
  3. Allow them to boil, covered, for 3 minutes. Open the lid and stir the mixture again, trying not to break too many tomatoes. Re-cover the pot cook another 3 minutes or so – you can tell when they are ready: when they all open their shells. Be careful to avoid overcooking them!
  4. Ladle into soup bowls, sprinkle with minced parsley, and serve with a crusty bread.

Confit di Pomodori

Ricetta semplicissima, con questo sugo potete farci tante cose, di sotto suggerisco una zuppa di cozze buonissima.

Ingredienti

  • Circa 2 kg di pomodorini piccoli (latterini).
  • 2-3 mazzi di basilico, lavato e fatto a pezzetti con le mani
  • Olio d’oliva di ottima qualità
  • Sale

Preparazione

  1. Forno a 125 C
  2. Mettete i pomodori e il basilico e un po’ di sale in una pentola da forno, aggiungete olio d’oliva a coprire fino a 1/3 dalla base della pentola I pomodori -cioè tanto olio!) e infornateli scoperti per un ora e mezza, poi togliete il coperchio e cuocete per altri 30 minuti.
  3. FATTO! Vedrete che i pomodori sono ancora interi.
  4. Togliete l’aglio, poi potete farli raffreddare e conservare in frigo per 1-2 settimane, o surgelarli per uso future.

Ricetta con le Cozze

Ingredienti

  • 5 Kg di confit di pomodori
  • 5 Kg di cozze
  • 1 mazzo di basilico fresco
  • Pane di giornata

Preparazione

  1. Portate a ebollizione il pomodoro, aggiungete 1.5 Kg di cozze e un mazzo di basilico fresco, e coprite.
  2. Girate dopo 3 min, aspettate altri 3 minuti circa, appena le cozze si aprono portate a tavola e buon appetito (serve naturalmente pane fresco da intingere nel sugo).