DIY Oven-Dried Tomatoes

Sun-dried tomatoes provide a great mediterranean taste that can be expensive to buy but easy and cheap to make yourself. With tomatoes readily available at supermarkets, consider drying them in your oven and storing in olive oil for homemade oven-dried tomatoes.

Chef Keith Snow of the Harvest Eating blog shares his method of preparing oven-dried tomatoes: cut the ends off and then cut them in half. Remove the seeds and juice with a spoon and add them to a baking sheet covered with aluminium foil. Season the tomatoes with garlic, black pepper, herbs de provence (optional), fresh thyme and sea salt. Add the best extra virgin olive oil you have, pouring it into the open cavity of the tomatoes. You’ll want to set your oven at around 90C and let the tomatoes dry for two hours before you check on them. If not ready, put them back in for half-hour periods until thoroughly dried out.

Chef Keith recommends storing the dried tomatoes in a mason jar with fresh thyme and more olive oil. Push the tomatoes down to remove any air pockets in the jar and make sure the oil covers the top of tomatoes. With this preparation, the dried tomatoes can be stored in your fridge for up to two weeks or in your freezer for up to two months.

Oven-Dried Tomatoes [Harvest Eating]