Go Back Email Link
An image of a pan of Easy Garlic Tomatoes.
Print Recipe

Easy Garlic Tomatoes

This 4-ingredient side dish is as simple a preparation as it is delicious, and is easy to turn into a larger meal. I like to serve this dish directly from the pan I used for cooking so as to preserve the intact tomato slices before serving, however, nothing will be lost if you prefer to scoop everything up into a dish for a more dip or chunky sauce-like presentation.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Servings: 4 Serves 4 as a side dish, 2 as part of a larger meal

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!

Notes

If you are a garlic fiend, you can feel free to up the garlic to as much as double the quantity called for!