This isn’t so much a recipe as a suggestion. It is simple, quick and only calls for 3 ingredients.

Once you roast cherry tomatoes, they transform from fresh pops of sunny brightness into rich, sweet and savoury tidbits waiting to roll around in pasta, be blended into a sauce or soup, or perhaps to rest on top of fresh from the oven bread and homemade ricotta.

For now though, let’s start with the tomatoes.

Makes: As many tomatoes as you decide to roast!

Ingredients:

• Cherry tomatoes (rinsed and dried)
• Olive oil (a generous glug or two)
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees f
2. Place cherry tomatoes in a bowl with a generous glug or two of olive oil (see note)
3. Sprinkle with salt to taste and gently toss together to coat tomatoes in olive oil
4. Spread tomatoes in a single layer on a baking tray
5. Roast for 20-30 minutes, until the tops of the tomatoes have just started to char
6. Do whatever you need to in order to keep yourself from grabbing one of these tomatoes straight from the oven, they are molten hot and need a few minutes to calm down

Notes:

• You can be very generous with the olive oil. Worst-case scenario, the bottom of the baking tray will contain richly tomato-infused olive oil just begging to have bread dipped in it.
• The tomatoes do not have to be perfect for this recipe to work. This dish was inspired by a bowl of cherry tomatoes that had gotten past their prime and were starting to look a little wrinkly (no judgment, we all get there), and once they were roasted you would never know the difference.