The Mistake Making Your Roasted Tomatoes Soggy

Have you ever loaded up a sheet pan with your favorite veggies, drizzled them with olive oil, and roasted them at a high temperature only to reveal a very sad and soggy result? Don't worry, you're not alone. The truth is that there's one crucial factor when it comes to roasting vegetables without making mistakes that many recipe instructions gloss over: You absolutely cannot crowd your pan. 

Vegetables are naturally water laden and when they encounter the high heat of your oven, they'll start releasing that water as steam. Usually that steam rises and evaporates in your oven, leaving your vegetables to crisp up and caramelize. Unfortunately for efficiency's sake, if your tomatoes, for instance, are crowded together, that steam will come into contact with the surrounding vegetables as it forces its way out. That's why even after roasting for an hour your tomatoes won't have any char or added color — they'll still be soaking wet. 

All vegetables need some room to breathe, at least a quarter of an inch. For particularly juicy vegetables like tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and zucchini, you might want to give them even more space. But even cruciferous varieties like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus all need a little more room to roast than you'd expect. So go ahead and bust out that second sheet pan or plan ahead to roast your veggies in batches. You'll be pleased by their golden-brown color and crisply charred taste.

The essential steps for perfectly roasted tomatoes

Unlike zucchini, broccoli, or other vegetables, tomatoes traverse their own unique journey in the oven. As tomatoes release their juices in the heat of a high-temperature oven, their natural sweetness starts to concentrate and caramelize. At the height of the summer when tomatoes are fresh and flavorful, there's no need to roast them to taste their satisfying sweetness. But in the depths of winter when tomatoes are so-so, roasting your fresh tomatoes will revitalize their flavor.

For perfectly roasted tomatoes, preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and line at least two baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut your tomatoes into golf ball-sized pieces and make sure to give them at least a quarter inch of space on all sides. Drizzle them with olive oil and add a sprinkle of salt and pepper before roasting for roughly 30 minutes. You'll know your tomatoes are ready once they'll have diminished in volume and taken on a golden hue. Top them with basil, balsamic vinegar, and perhaps a few red pepper flakes before adding your jammy tomatoes to fresh pasta, creamy risotto, a green salad, or an impressive antipasto platter.

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