Confit Tomatoes and Feta

Confit Tomatoes and Feta

We make these confit tomatoes embarrassingly often. There's something about slow-roasting tomatoes in a bath of olive oil with garlic, shallots, cinnamon and fresh herbs that just transforms them into something completely different, deep, jammy and almost sweet. The feta goes in towards the end and comes out soft and creamy with golden edges, and honestly the smell when this is in the oven is enough to make everyone wander into the kitchen asking what you're cooking. It works as a side, it works spooned over bread, it works as a starter with a glass of something cold. Just make it tonight, trust us.

Cook: 70 min
Serves 6

Before You Start

  • Preheat oven to 200°C
  • Large roasting tray
  • Vegetable peeler

Ingredients

  • 2 banana shallots
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 1 lemon
  • 500g cherry tomatoes
  • 4 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 8 sprigs of thyme
  • 120ml olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 slices of thick slices of quality sourdough

Method

1

Prepare ingredients for roasting

  • Peel the shallots and cut into chunks
  • Peel the garlic cloves
  • With a peeler, shave 6 strips of peel from the lemon
2

Get ready for the oven

  • Arrange the shallots, garlic, tomatoes, cinnamon sticks, oregano, thyme, lemon peel and salt in a roasting tray
  • Pour in the olive oil and give it all a good mix
3

Bake

  • Place in the oven for 50 minutes, until the tomatoes have burst
  • Crumble over the feta, bake for another 10 minutes
4

For the toast

  • Cut sourdough loaf into thick slices and toast until golden brown
5

Serve straight from the tray

  • Dunk the toasted bread into the fudgy tomatoes, gooey feta, aromatic oil and enjoy!

Tips & Variations

  • Serve it with bread: We cannot stress this enough. Get a good sourdough or flatbread and use it to mop up every last bit of that herby, garlicky oil. That oil is liquid gold.
  • Go low and slow: If you've got an extra 20 minutes to spare, drop the oven temperature slightly and let it go longer. The tomatoes get even jammier and the garlic turns almost nutty. Worth it every time.
  • Use the leftover oil: Don't throw away the oil left in the tray. It's infused with garlic, herbs and tomato and is incredible drizzled over pasta, roasted veg or just more bread.

Why This Works

The trick is patience and a generous pour of olive oil. Confit is basically just slow-cooking in fat, and what it does to tomatoes is magical. They collapse down, their sweetness concentrates, and the garlic and shallots almost melt into the oil alongside them. The cinnamon is the secret move here. It sounds unexpected but it gives the whole thing this subtle warmth that makes people go 'what IS that?' in the best way.