One of the many great eating pleasures in life must surely be dipping fresh, warm bread into something succulent and saucy, and especially so if that sauce is full of rich tomato and tangy garlic flavours. Easy Garlic Tomatoes, made with just 4 plant-based ingredients, will have you in the kitchen in no time, ready to do just that.
Like bread and sauce, tomatoes and garlic are the best of friends, uplifting each other’s flavoursome qualities in a multitude of dishes across numerous cuisines. A considerable variety of preparations featuring this complimentary duo abound throughout the Middle East. From the Jordanian and Palestinian galayet bandora, to the Morrocan and Israeli matbucha, or Lebanese banadurah harrah, multiple recipes combine tomatoes and garlic, some enriched with other elements including hot peppers, paprika, coriander, mint, onions, or pine nuts.
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Just 4 ingredients
This recipe is a riff on a longtime favourite first tasted years ago at the venerable Middle Eastern restaurant Jerusalem in Toronto. My version of garlic tomatoes uses a few kitchen staples in a simple preparation, transforming tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and tomato paste into a luscious preparation of sautéed tomato slices bathing in a garlic-infused tomato sauce.
Easy Garlic Tomatoes makes the best of ripe, decent quality tomatoes - it doesn’t matter if they have a wrinkle or two or aren’t perfect, just don’t use overly ripe or mealy tomatoes here, as the tomatoes are the star of the dish. Use the best quality olive oil you have on hand, and fresh garlic, and definitely make sure you have some fresh bread or pita on hand to sop up all the sweet, earthy, tangy, and savoury goodness that this dish provides.
Preparation
Easy Garlic Tomatoes is as simple a preparation as it is delicious. Perhaps the most difficult thing about making this dish is not heading to the kitchen, after eating your fill at the table, only to find yourself huddled over the pan, scooping up all the leftover sauce and chunks of sweetly semi-caramelized garlic with just one more extra fluffy, sauce soaked chunk of pita.
Making Easy Garlic Tomatoes is a snap; after slicing the tomatoes, a rich sauce is started by sautéing sliced garlic in olive oil. Once the garlic is tender but not browned, tomato paste is added and cooked for a few minutes to darken, sweeten, and caramelize. Water is whisked in to create the sauce that will bathe the tomato slices, which after cooking for a short time, soften and intensify in flavour. Served right out of the pan, there are few dishes as easy and satisfying to make!
The Food Find
The sauce is enriched by the addition of Turkish tomato and pepper paste, a pantry staple in my household that is sure to become one in yours as well. Turkish tomato and pepper paste can be used almost anywhere that tomato paste is called for. I find this essential Turkish staple to have a richer, more deeply savoury flavour than tomato paste alone. Turkish tomato paste can also be quite salty, so I always make sure to refrain from adding additional salt until after I have added the paste and tasted for seasoning. Turkish tomato paste is available in mild, medium and hot varieties, and both with and without peppers. Find out more about Turkish Tomato and Pepper Paste, where to find it, and ways to use it.
Ways to eat Easy Garlic Tomatoes
Easy Garlic Tomatoes is a moreish side dish that you will find yourself making over and over again - it’s quick and easy to make, and so delicious as to be irresistible. It also happens to make a wonderful base for a larger meal.
You can easily turn this side-dish into a meal as I often do, by accompanying it with a big scoop of hummus, greek yogurt, or labneh drizzled with olive oil, crumbling some feta on top, or perhaps adding a crisp green salad on the side if you can pause eating your sauce soaked pita long enough to do so.
Scrambled eggs, jammy soft boiled eggs, or scrambled tofu would easily take this dish into brunch territory, and I understand from my flexitarian eating partner that slices of grilled chicken breast welcome a smothering with a big spoonful of these unctuous tomatoes.
Looking for more tomato recipes?
Easy Garlic Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoon good quality extra virgin olive oil
- 6 cloves peeled garlic crushed with the side of a knife, then thinly sliced
- 1 heaping tbsp Turkish tomato and pepper paste or substitute good quality Italian tomato paste
- ½ cup water
- 4 medium tomatoes sliced into thick slices, about 3 per tomato
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large shallow saucepan over low heat. Add the garlic and saute for about 10 minutes until the oil is fragrant and the garlic softened, carefully making sure that the garlic does not brown.
- Stir the tomato/pepper paste into the garlic and olive oil, and cook for an additional few minutes until the paste starts to turn a darker shade of red. Add the water and stir or whisk until a thick sauce is formed.
- Add as many tomato slices as will fit into a single layer on top of your sauce, and turn the heat to medium until the sauce starts to bubble gently around the tomato slices. Saute the tomatoes for about 5 minutes in the sauce, then gently turn over with the thinnest, flattest spatula you have, and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
- Check for seasoning and add salt if necessary - some tomato pastes are quite salty so taste generously before adding any additional salt.
- Serve hot or warm directly from the pan to keep the tomato slices intact if that is the look you prefer, otherwise you can mound the slices and sauce into a bowl for serving. Don’t forget to save some extra bread for the cook to mop up the pan before you get to the washing up! Enjoy!
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