Some people call these oven-dried tomatoes, but they're the opposite of dry - they're full of delicious sweet concentrated tomato flavour, but still tender and juicy.

Make sure that the tomatoes you use are red and ripe - you can roast hard, unripe tomatoes for as long as you like and they still won't taste any good. Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise, and place them, cut side up, on a baking sheet covered with alfoil. Leave a centimetre or two between pieces. Lightly oil the cut side of the tomatoes - I dip my fingers in the oil and then rub it on the surfaces. Grind over a little salt and pepper. Place the tomatoes in the oven, set at its lowest possible heat. Leave them there for 3-5 hours - the length of time will depend on the temperature of the oven, the fleshiness of the tomatoes, and how concentrated you want them to be. Then you can either eat them warm, as a side vegetable, or in a warm salad, or you can let them cool down and eat them with cheese and rocket and bread, or as part of a mezze plate, or whatever. If you are going to keep them in the fridge for more than a day before eating them, store them under olive oil.

Note: Don't try to hurry the process by cranking up the heat - you'll get roasted tomatoes within an hour, but they won't reduce at all. Of course, tomatoes cooked like that are still good - mush them up with some roast garlic for a pasta sauce, or use them in the roast tomato and basil risotto.