… I was stung on my tummy by a very sleepy but nonetheless angry wasp last week and it was not nice. I’d been collecting wood for the fire and the little blighter must have crept into the stack of dry logs thinking it looked like a cosy place to sleep through the winter… well, both it and I got a very nasty surprise… my tummy turned a vivid shade of red, swelled and hardened and by the next day I felt a little pregnant, like I was carrying a hot wasp baby inside me… a bucket load of cream and antihistamine later and the whole thing has died down and is slowly fading away and whilst the experience wasn’t particularly pleasant it was a timely reminder of the changing seasons and the way nature does her thing…
oven roasted tomatoes
the fine folk at Isle of Wight tomatoes sent me a very colourful box of their finest which, when it arrived was like opening a box of summer… the Isle of Wight has the ideal climate and growing conditions for tomatoes of all varieties which is so wonderful as I adore the taste and heady aroma of the tomato vine, it reminds me of all those incredible Spanish and Californian tomatoes you see that are in such abundance in sunnier climes… the tomato people also have a new range of produced made using their delicious toms… the tomato stall sells an wonderful array of stuff from tomato juices to chutney’s and relishes to some incredible oak roasted tomato balsamic vinegar which i’ve used here to slow roast these beauties…
a mixed batch of tomatoes – will work with any variety – halved
salt and pepper
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
place the cut tomatoes cut-side up into a roasting tray, sprinkle with oil and seasoning and drizzle a little balsamic over them
roast in the oven on 100C for 6-8 hours until the moisture has nearly all gone – you want to keep some plumpness
let them cool and then place them into a bowl or into a jar and cover in olive oil. They will remain good in the fridge for at least a month, extending the summer on your plate… the infused olive oil also tastes incredible after about a week, so it’s win-win!
eat and of course, enjoy!
I did semi-dried tomatoes that way last weekend! Sorry to hear about the wasp incident. Wasps very rarely sting humans, so he must have felt very threatened – mind you, so would I if I were being evicted by a giant who was demolishing my house! 🙂 Hope you are OK now.
Oh you poor baby, now I feel mean about making that Cold Comfort Farm reference on Twitter! I'm glad you're not having a little wasp baby. And these tomatoes look lush. I have a bunch of little tomato seedlings growing indoors at the moment, I'm just waiting for them to get a bit bigger and braver before they go outside.
These look so beautiful and delicious.
Wasp stings are unbelievably painful. I have only ever been stung once but I had three stings at the same time. My dog disturbed a wasp nest in the woods one summer evening and was surrounded by them. I dashed over to drag her away. She escaped but I got stung. They got inside my clothes so any passer by would have seen a crazy woman screaming and ripping off her clothes in the wood !!
I lay awake for hours waiting for the pain to subside. It was awful, so I have great sympathy for you or anyone who gets a wasp sting.
Yikes.. that bee sting does not sound pleasant at all… but at least you are now on the mend 🙂
The tomatoes, on the other hand, sound absolutely lovely!!!
These are some amazing photos, you've totally made me want to make these today. Late summer tomatoes are the prettiest.
SO sorry about the bee sting…….and I remember you telling me when I met you last week about it! LOVELY recipe for tomatoes however, and sadly mine never arrived before I left Hannah's, that's the second delivery that never turned up – there must be lots of roaming tomatoes around the UK now! Karen
I love slow cooked tomatoes, but never cooked them that slow! I bet they tasted amazing!
Sorry to hear about the wasp. We went to the Isle of Wight last week – it's great. Wish I'd had longer to investigate all the farms, chocolate companys and vinyards. These tomatos look amazing. A good hunk of home made brea would go down a treat with those babies smeared over it
Roast tomatoes are my absolute favourite! Wish I could get my hands on such a wide variety of colours though, they look great!
Oh I know it's not fun to be stung, but I have tears running down my cheeks at the thought of you carrying that hot wasp baby. Those tomatoes are just gorgeous and have given me tomato envy. Ours came to nothing again this year.