Today I thought I would kick off next week’s recipes with two “ingredient recipes”.  Ingredient recipes are things I like to make ahead of time (usually on Sundays) so I have them ready to add to other dishes during the week when I don’t have as much time to cook.

This week my two make ahead “ingredient recipes” are Roasted Roma Tomatoes and Roasted Garlic.  I love these recipes for 3 reasons.  First they are so easy to make.  (They only take a 3-5 minutes of prep time then you pop them in the oven and let them do their thing with no additional effort on your part.)  Second, they are as delicious as they are easy.  Finally, when you have them on hand you can use them to make so many great flavorful dishes in not time at all.

My inspiration for making Roasted Roma Tomatoes this week came from the current Special Issue of Everyday Food magazine.  They had a recipe for Slow-Roasted Tomatoes that look tempting and was so easy with just 2 ingredients (tomatoes and sugar).  I changed up a little bit by changing the type of tomatoes and adding a quick drizzle of olive oil.  The touch of olive oil is going to work really well in the recipes  we are going to be making later in the week.

I decided to roast garlic at the same time as the tomatoes (though not in the same pan because the garlic cooks much quicker than the tomatoes) because I am heating up the oven anyway and the garlic works so beautifully with the tomatoes in recipes.  Roasted garlic is something I have made forever.  I am not sure if I ever really had an official recipe for it.

Roasted garlic is the easiest thing in the world to make.  You just chop the top off, drizzle the head with olive oil and pop it in the oven.  Some people make it without cutting the top of first and that is fine too.  I just find it easier to get the roasted garlic out once it is cooked if you cut the top off before cooking.

If you have never had roasted garlic before it is from heaven!  Roasting garlic settles the flavor (so you don’t get that almost burning bite you get with raw garlic) and deepens it into this silky goodness.  Roasted garlic is mellow enough to be delicious eaten just by itself but it is also wonderful added to all kinds of dishes.  To get the soft cloves out after roasting all you have to do is press lightly from the base of the clove and it will pop out the top.

So here is the deal with Make Ahead Sunday,  you make these two “ingredient recipes” tonight so you have them on hand. Then this  I will post 3 delicious recipes you can make from them during the week.  Deal?  Great!  See you back here tomorrow for the first recipe. (I’ll give you a hint – first we are making a tasty pasta dish that you can make in under 15 minutes when you already have the roasted tomatoes and garlic.)

Roasted Roma Tomatoes

Prep time: 4 minutes – Cook time: 1 hour 20 minutes – Makes: 20 tomato halves

• 10 Roma tomatoes
• 5 teaspoons sugar
• olive oil

Preheat oven to 350º.  Spray baking tray with a light spray of olive oil and set aside.

Cut tomatoes in half and place on baking tray.

Sprinkle each half with 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Drizzle tomato halves with a little bit of olive oil.

Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes.  After baking either serve and enjoy or let the tomato halves cool completely, cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Roasted Garlic

Prep time: 4 minutes – Cook time: 35-40 minutes – Makes: 3 heads

• 3 heads of garlic
• olive oil

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