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Prep time
10 minutes
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Cook time
1 hour
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Serves
2 to 4
Author Notes
A good reason to turn on your oven in the summer—tiny tomatoes, roasted until they collapse, piled on whatever you want. Yes, this takes a little time, but most of it is inactive. And all you need is a couple other ingredients to make the tomatoes shine: garlic, a lot of it; soy sauce, for salty savoriness; and your pick of pepper or chile flakes if you want a little heat. For what it’s worth, cherry or grape tomatoes are not that bad during the rest of the year, so if you’re craving this during fall, winter, or spring, go for it. Serve roasted tomatoes on top of steamed rice or couscous, crispy chicken or grilled fish, boiled or roasted vegetables, any pasta or noodle, even a gooey cheese like Brie. These are best served immediately, still warm, but if you happen to have leftovers, you can refrigerate them in an airtight container for a few days; just gently reheat before serving to melt the butter. —Emma Laperruque
Ingredients
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3 tablespoons
salted butter, divided
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2
medium garlic heads
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2 pints
cherry or grape tomatoes
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1 tablespoon
soy sauce
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Freshly ground black pepper or red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)
Directions
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Heat the oven to 400°F.
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In the microwave or on the stove, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Slice off and discard the tops of the garlic heads, so the cloves are exposed but still bound together. Set the garlic heads inside a square of foil. Brush a little melted butter on top of each garlic head (and save the rest of the melted butter—we’ll use it up in a bit). Wrap up the foil into a bundle and place this in a 9x13-inch baking dish (or similar).
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Roast the garlic for 40 to 45 minutes, until the cloves are tender and golden. Remove the bundle from the baking dish and increase the oven heat to 450°F.
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To the empty baking dish, add the reserved butter and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Swirl it around to melt. Add the tomatoes and shake the pan to coat them in the butter.
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Roast the tomatoes for 10 minutes, until some of them are starting to split. Remove the pan from the oven and drizzle the soy sauce on top. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins and onto the tomatoes. Return the pan to the oven and roast for another 5 minutes or so, until some of the tomatoes have collapsed and others are whole (they’ll all continue to soften out of the oven). Let cool for about 5 minutes before serving.
Emma was the food editor at Food52. She created the award-winning column, Big Little Recipes, and turned it into a cookbook in 2021. These days, she's a senior editor at Bon Appétit, leading digital cooking coverage. Say hello on Instagram at @emmalaperruque.
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