Oven Dried Tomatoes



Stormy-Kym's Oven Dried Tomatoes

Here is a recipe that we LOVE! We had been growing tomatoes in our veggie patch in the back yard one summer and the tomato plants just TOOK OFF! After giving away bags of tomatoes to friends and family we were still left with dozens of tomatoes. We didn't want to waste any of our home grown beauties so we decided to try and make our own oven dried tomatoes. I did some research on how its done and put together my own recipe. I was a bit worried that it wouldn't work out, but when they came out of the oven they looked great. When they were cooled we gave them a try and were blown away by the flavour!! They were FANTASTIC!

Dried tomatoes are great in salads, on pizza, in sandwiches, in spaghetti sauce, rolled up in puff pastry with cheese, in pasta salad, in stir-fry, on bread or crackers or even just on thier own! Just use your imagination!

So this is what I did...

I cut the tomatoes into wedges. I didn't remove the seeds because there weren't many in our tomatoes, but if you seem to have a lot of seeds and liquid then you might want to remove the seeds and let them drain.
Next I tossed the wedges in some olive oil, salt, garlic and oregano (but you can use whatever seasonings you like). I placed the wedges skin side down on a tray and baked them at 100 c (200 F) for several hours (6 to 12 hours, depending on the size and moisture content of the tomato).
The tomatoes should be flexible, leathery-dry and not wet when they're done drying. They'll be supple but won't feel "squishy" to the touch. Tomatoes shrink in size and get darker as they dry, much like the way grapes do when they become raisins; the pulp will feel firm but flexible when they're done.
You should be able to store the dried tomatoes in a sealed container or ziplock bag in the fridge for several months.

Tomato wedges going into the oven

My delicious oven dried tomatoes