Sun Dried Tomatoes

Sun Dried Tomatoes

Well, that might be a bit of a misnomer, since they're actually dried in the oven, but you get the idea.  We planted our first garden in our new house this year and ended up with a bumper crop of tomatoes.  This is the first batch which I made into sun dried tomatoes.  For a delicious way to use them, check out the Asparagus Penne Recipe posted earlier.  There's not really a recipe for the tomatoes, but I will at least walk you through my method.

First start out with a whole bunch of beautiful, ripe tomatoes.  I know, I went a little crazy with the pictures, but they were so beautiful I couldn't help myself.  I wish I liked raw tomatoes just so I can properly appreciate a juicy, ripe home-grown tomato, but alas, I can't stand them.  For now I'll have to live vicariously through Nate who eats them like candy.

Prepare your baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.  I couldn't find my normal sheet pans so I had to cut rounds of parchment to fit into my dad's pizza pans.  Whatever works!

Wash and de-stem your tomatoes and either leave out to dry, or run a quick towel over them to take off any excess water.  Ok, I probably didn't need to show you a picture of washed tomatoes, but I couldn't resist taking another picture of them.  So pretty....

Slice the romas in half length-wise and any round tomatoes into about 1/4 inch discs.  Toss them into a bowl and coat with olive oil.

Lay them out in a single layer on your baking sheet with the cut side up.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  You can also add any other seasonings you like such as dried basil or italian seasonings.  For my first batch I went plain.

I set my oven for 150 degrees, but if yours won't go that low set it to it's lowest temperature.  Bake until dried but not crispy.  When mine came out I got so excited about canning them that I forgot to take a picture of the dried tomatoes on the baking sheet.  Oops.  So, we'll have to skip ahead to the final product.  When the tomatoes are cooked through you can either put them in a ziplock and store them in the freezer or do like I did and can them.  I didn't do the whole water bath thing, I just layered the tomatoes in a canning jar and then filled it with olive oil.  Use a chop stick or the blunt end of a skewer to try and get any air bubbles out.  It will keep longer if you do.  This is another point where you can add more flavor by throwing in a sprig of fresh rosemary or a couple garlic cloves, or even a few chili peppers, but I went with plain olive oil.  I read online that they'll keep like this for up to 2 months.  Enjoy!