As tomato season winds down, I thought I’d share this ode to our rooftop garden. Every year, I agree to plant fewer tomatoes. And every year, I find myself pulling seedling after seedling from the shelves of the Friends School Plant Sale, unable to limit myself to just three or four. For me, much is driven by color–I like to have a rainbow on the roof and on my plate. I aim for fruit that showcases deep purples, bright oranges, sunshine yellows, blushing pinks, reds so crimson they’re almost brown, dark blues.

Having such a wealth of plants also means ending up with an abundance (frequently overabundance) of tomatoes that all seem to reach peak ripeness at once. There are only so many caprese salads, tomato pastas and pizzas I can make in the moment, and this year I decided I needed to preserve some of the bounty. A memory nagged at the back of my mind of a tomato confit I had once had, a rich blend of good olive oil and tomatoes and roasted garlic cloves and basil. Check, check, check and check–I had everything I needed.

This dish is so simple: Arrange whole or cut (if large) cherry tomatoes on a sheet pan, toss in a few peeled garlic cloves, sprinkle with basil leaves and then add a layer of olive oil (enough to come a bit up the sides of the tomatoes; see above in the “before” photo). Bake at 250°F. for about 2 1/2 hours. Spread the mixture on slices of crusty bread and enjoy. Immediately refrigerate any leftovers and use within a week.

Knowing that we’d have a fresh batch of tomato confit ready the next night, I hunted high and low for a good loaf of crusty bread studded with garlic while out grocery shopping. After striking out at three stores, I thought, “Why not just make my own?” No-knead bread takes little time or effort but produces bakery-worthy results. I used this recipe from Gimme Some Oven. After the first rise, I folded in cloves of garlic that I had roasted. (Cut off the top of a head of garlic and put on a sheet of foil. Drizzle with olive oil. Wrap the foil around the garlic and roast at 425°F. for 35 minutes.)

It’s what I consider a perfect summer pairing.