Oven-dried tomatoes

I have a love-hate relationship with summer.  

On one hand I enjoy wearing summer dresses, walking barefoot (I hate shoes), and early summer camping .... oh, wait, I enjoy late summer camping as well - as long as there are not too many people.  

On the other hand, I dislike the heat, the humidity, and mosquitos (they are always after me).  I also tend to lose my appetite in hot weather so throughout the months of June, July, and most of August I eat tons of salads.

This year I am trying to make my salads more exciting by adding flavorful ingredients and mixing new dressings.    Oven-dried tomatoes make any simple salad exciting.  They are also great in sandwiches, on pasta, or just on their own.  Make a big batch 'cause they tend to disappear fast ;)

There is no "correct" way of making oven-dried tomatoes.  A simple Google search will reveal tons of recipes, so read through a couple or choose one as a guideline and experiment!

What you need:

6 tomatoes

3-4 garlic cloves, crushed

3-4 springs of thyme or a small bunch of basil (or use both) minced.  Plus another couple of branches, whole

about 2 tbsp olive oil 

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

fresh ground pepper

 What to do:

• Preheat oven to 350F (175 C)
• To begin with, you will need to peel the tomatoes.

• Bring a big pot of water to boil.  Meanwhile make an "x" cut on the top of tomatoes

• Immerse tomatoes in boiling water for less than a minute.  You do not want them to cook.  If you are doing it right, you'll notice the skin slightly peeling off next to the x-cut.

• Put tomatoes in a bowl with icy-cold water (to stop cooking process) and then peel off  the skin.
• Cut tomatoes in 6 or 8 and remove seeds.

   

• Toss tomatoes with oil, salt, sugar, pepper, minced herbs, and crushed garlic.
• Add sugar and salt gradually, starting with 1/2 of teaspoon - depending on the sweetness of tomatoes and your personal taste you might need less (or more) seasoning.
• Don't hesitate to taste and adjust the flavoring.

• You can use these marinated raw tomatoes or go ahead and roast/dry them.
• Arrange tomatoe-herb-garlic "mix" on a baking sheet.  If tomatoes gave a lot of juice, leave it out.  Add thyme/basilic springs and roast for an hour or so.
• Alternatively, you can dry tomatoes at lower temperature for 3-4 hours or even overnight.  It will depend on the juiciness of the fruit and your oven settings.  
• Slow-roasted tomatoes have deeper flavor, but believe me, the fast-roasted are delicious as well.

• Once tomatoes are "dry enough" (anywhere from lightly shriveled to light brown), remove the sheet from the oven and let it cool down completely.
• Store tomatoes (without garlic) in jars filled with olive oil, in a fridge.  Drier tomatoes will last longer, juicier ones should be consumed within a week or two.
  

Tips and Suggestions:  

This is a great way to save extra tomatoes or to use those that are not very sweet/ripe.