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Roasted green beans is one of my favorite fall-transition side dishes. Fresh green beans taste nothing like their canned cousins; they maintain their texture a whole lot better, and roasting them brings out a sweetness in addition to any grassy notes. Add a tomato confit on top, and you have a dish that tastes extravagant, but is actually very hands-off and easy to make.
This dish has its origins in a side I made for Thanksgiving in 2020. Rather than make a green bean casserole, I decided that I wanted to make something more fresh. That first version, however, was very involved. Like, I made half of it the night before and then the other half the day-of. The tomatoes were cooked two different ways. It was delicious, but labor intense. I can assure you, though, that this version is just as delicious, but way easier to make.
What is tomato confit and why would I make it?
Confit refers to a specific process of preserving meat, vegetables, or even fruit by cooking at a low temperature in a lot of fat or sugar syrup. Confit’ed meat and vegetables can last for months, even without refrigeration, because the food is kept fully submerged in the cooking fat, creating a barrier from external pathogens.
However, in the refrigeration age, we don’t need to confit everything to preserve it. We do get to enjoy the flavors though. When cooked low and slow, the tomatoes intensify in flavor; everything you love about late-summer tomatoes will become stronger, kind of like a sun-dried tomato without the jerky-like texture. As Serious Eats says, “confit is to deep frying as barbeque is to grilling.”
This recipe will make more confit than you need for the roasted tomatoes alone. It will keep well both in the refrigerator (about a month) and in a dark, cool pantry (about 2 weeks, if completely submerged in oil). You can slather it on avocado toast, or blend it into a sauce for pasta (or other vegetables). There will be no shortage of ways to use the leftovers, I promise!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Green Beans
Use fresh green beans; canned green beans will just become mush and not be very good at all. Look for green beans that are still snappy and not limp. You’ll also want them to be bright green and not have any brown spots.
The confit topping will work with (almost) any roasted vegetable, though the cook times will vary.
Tomatoes
I used a mixture of plum or Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and Early Girl tomatoes. Any tomatoes will work, just ensure that they are all approximately the same size when you chop them up to go in the oven.
This is a great way to us an over-abundance of cherry tomatoes and preserve them at their peak flavor for use in the fall.
Basil
Not a basil fan? You can use a lot of different herbs here, like rosemary, thyme, or even oregano. It all depends on the overall flavor profile you want to get out of the confit. I was inspired by Italian flavors, so basil (and garlic!) reign supreme, but you could easily go Greek with oregano, or French with the thyme.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Because there is so much oil in this recipe, you’ll want to use a good quality extra-virgin olive oil. The flavor will make a difference here.
In California, I look for “mission” varieties of olive oil to use for this recipe, as these blends tend to be very buttery in flavor. I’ve been seeing more and more olive ranchers at the farmers markets over the years, so talk to your local farmer and see what they recommend!
Serving Suggestions
This side dish works with just about any protein you want to serve with it: beef, chicken, pork, fish, doesn’t matter! You could even serve it with eggs for a twist on a breakfast hash.
As I mentioned in the intro, I think this would be an excellent Thanksgiving side dish, especially if you’re catering to vegan or Whole30 guests. It’s one of those dishes that can appeal to a wide variety of different diets, and there is absolutely no sacrifice in flavor. If you’re making this dish for Thanksgiving, I definitely recommend making the confit in advance. It’ll take a lot of pressure off, and on the big day, the green beans will roast quickly and you won’t have to worry about timing everything.
Roasted Green Beans with Tomato Confit
Roasted green beans are a family favorite, and topping them with tomato confit makes this into a dish that tastes extravagant, but is very hands-off to make.
Ingredients
Tomato Confit
- 1 pint mixed, chopped tomatoes (can be a mixture of cherry, plum/Roma, beefsteak, or heirloom)
- 10 large basil leaves
- 2-3 large garlic cloves (more if cloves are small)
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp kosher salt
Roasted Green Beans
- 8oz fresh green beans, ends trimmed
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Make the tomato confit:
- Place tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil, and salt in a foil-lined sheet pan and mix until everything is thoroughly coated.
- Turn oven to 300°F (no need to pre-heat the oven for this recipe). Put sheet pan in the oven and bake for 3 hours.
- Remove confit from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely before jarring if not using immediately. This recipe will make approximately 1 cup of tomato confit.
Roasted green beans with tomato confit topping:
- Pre-heat oven to 400°F. If you've just made the confit, this counts as pre-heating the oven.
- Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil, and add the green beans, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
- Place sheet pan in the oven and roast for 10-12 minutes, or until green beans become blistered. Remove from the oven.
- Roughly chop ½ cup of the tomato confit, and mix with the green beans. Adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Storage of the tomato confit in the refrigerator will cause the olive oil to solidify. To bring the confit back to life, warm to melt the olive oil, then use per the recipe above.
