Moonlight tomatoes – tomatoes from the oven

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 500 g tomatoes, small, red and/or colorful
• 5 thyme sprigs, fresh or dried
• Salt
• Sugar
• e.g. olive oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Rest time approx. 12 hours; Total time approx. 12 hours 15 minutes

Preheat the oven to 250°C (top/bottom heat). Halve the tomatoes and place them cut-side up in a baking dish, close together. Pick the thyme leaves. Carefully drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil, season with salt, and sprinkle with a pinch of sugar. Scatter the fresh thyme leaves on top. Place on the middle rack of the preheated oven, close the oven door, and turn off the oven immediately. Leave the tomatoes in the oven overnight; hence the name “moonlight tomatoes.” These tomatoes go well with fresh baguette. You can use tomatoes that are too soft to eat as they are or that don’t have a proper flavor yet—the flavor will develop in the oven. I like to use small tomatoes, red or yellow, as they retain their shape better than large ones.