What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Test Kitchen Favorites: Garlic Roasted Vine Tomatoes! When baking cherry tomatoes on the vine, there is no need to remove the vine beforehand. As they bake, the skin will often crack or split. No worries. Grab a fork and mash them a little bit. This step enhances the presentation, giving the garlicky tomatoes a chunky consistency. Once the tomatoes are baked, the vine can be easily removed and discarded. The star attraction, I found, was sinking my teeth into a roasted garlic clove. Surprisingly, the sweet, nutty taste is nothing like the sharp pungency of raw garlic. And the natural caramelized sweetness can turn anyone into a grab-aholic, greedily picking out more garlic cloves when no one is looking. I confess, I can be sneaky. 

GARLIC ROASTED VINE TOMATOES 

Ingredients: 

8-ounces cherry tomatoes on the vine

1 garlic bulb, peeled and separated into garlic cloves

1 tablespoon olive oil 

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

5-6 fresh basil leaves

Instructions: 

Preheat oven to 400°. In a large bowl, place the cherry tomatoes. Set aside. Slice each garlic clove into three sections. Add to the cherry tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle mixture with kosher salt and red pepper flakes. Gently toss to coat. Transfer the tomato mixture to a cast iron skillet. Bake 10 minutes until lightly browned; add the basil leaves. Stir. Return skillet to oven for 10 minutes longer. Remove from oven and transfer to a platter. Spoon warm tomatoes, in sauce, over toasted baguette slices.