Oven Roasted Tomatoes Sott’Olio

These savory-sweet, jammy tomatoes are tasty with mozzarella, burrata, or just plain on olive oil soaked bread. You can even throw them into some spaghetti straight from the jar.

On a Cittavino & Co. fueled Campania wine research trip two years ago, I ventured into the Campi Flegrei, the fields of fire. The Romans considered this super volcano system the gateway to Hell. I don’t know what it looked like in antiquity, but if it were as I imagine, bubbling pools of lava and hot gas eruptions, the Gateway to Hell sounds pretty accurate.

While not lavically eruptive, the Campi Flegrei is still seismically active. So much so, what was a natural reserve park open to visitors is now shut off due to safety hazards- you don’t want to be near any hot steam or gas emissions when Mother Nature decides to spew off. The area is fascinating. Barren looking as you drive through it and the smell of sulfur is ripe everywhere, but as it goes with volcanoes and humans, we feel a magnetic pull to these natural, yet dangerous, wonders and people have been living in the area for millennia.

The volcanic zones of Campania are known for wine, but also fruit and vegetable agriculture, the soils rich with volcanic ash fertilizer, especially when it comes to their tomatoes. These volcanic regions are maybe the only places you can taste minerality in a tomato. Because I didn’t have a real agenda and was curious to explore the communes of the Campi Flegrei, I drove around making random stops along the way. I hadn’t yet understood the Park was closed and couldn’t figure out how to “enter” the Fields of Fire. Frustrated, I stopped in Bacoli, thinking I could eat a panino with some views of the Lago Miseno, but the downpour started again. I sat in the car and took in my surroundings, about to leave again but the adventurer in me told me to stay. After a five minute walk in the rain, I came across a beaded door with a wooden sign above. I couldn’t tell what kind of shop it was from the outside so I pulled back the beads and stepped inside.

My eyes widened and heart palpitations ensued as I found myself in a Sistine Chapel of hanging prosciutto and salami, colorful jarred goods, deli cases packed to the brim with cheeses covered in orange and purple jams, all kinds of prepared panini with fresh wood oven baked focaccia, and to my most profound joy, an entire case dedicated to their sott’olio selections. I bought a bit of everything and sat right there in one of the two booths with a Birra Moretti: panino; various meats; artichokes; marinated anchovy; and the bright red tomatoes sott’olio.

Those tomatoes, from the little hole in wall alimentari in Bacoli that isn’t even on Google Maps, are the inspiration for this recipe. I can’t believe I only discovered their wonder two years ago, but they have changed my life for the better. Not joking. Cracking into a jar of the sweet, jammy, tangy bites that taste like dessert and antipasto in one, they are a delicious addition to just about anything. Pure comfort in a jar. Combined with **Mariarita Grasso’s fennel seed addition and my unpopular preference for roast garlic over raw, they are everything I love about Mediterranean food.

Drying the tomatoes in the oven takes ~3.5hrs, but it’s passive time so you can go about your day. Don’t forget to set the timer so you don’t forget about them in the oven. 

Feel free to experiment with different herbs-maybe some oregano, chili flake…

If you have a dehydrator, you can dry the tomatoes there! The dehydrator really sucks the water out, so if you use it and you dry the shit out of the tomato, on purpose or accident, I would suggest you follow Mariarita Grasso’s tip** at the bottom of the recipe. Mari is the producer of Filippo Grasso wines. If you go to Etna, I’m sending you to her! The wines are amazing, and Mari is an excellent chef and kind soul.

Scroll to the end of the article for wine pairings.