Tomates Confites à la Provençale

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Tomates Confites à la Provençale—tomatoes slowly dried in a low oven with olive oil, garlic, and thyme until they collapse into wrinkled, intensely sweet, deeply concentrated jewels—are one of Provence’s most versatile preserving techniques and a cornerstone of the modern Provençal pantry. The technique sits between a fresh tomato and a fully sun-dried one: where sun-dried tomatoes are leathery and require rehydration, tomates confites retain moisture and supple texture while concentrating their flavour by approximately four times. The process is straightforward but demands patience: ripe Roma or San Marzano-type tomatoes are halved, seeded, and laid cut-side up on a wire rack over a baking tray. Each half is seasoned with a pinch of fleur de sel, a grind of pepper, a sliver of garlic, a tiny sprig of thyme, and a generous drizzle of olive oil. They bake at 90-100°C for 4-6 hours, depending on size, until they have lost approximately 70% of their moisture and collapsed to roughly one-third their original size. The oven door is left slightly ajar (propped with a wooden spoon) to allow moisture to escape. The finished confites are a deep, brick-red colour, wrinkled but still pliable, intensely sweet, and almost jammy in texture. Stored submerged in olive oil in sterilised jars, they keep for 3 months in the refrigerator and become an indispensable ingredient: torn into pasta, laid on pizza and tarts, folded into salads, pounded into sauces, or simply eaten on bread with fresh goat cheese.

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