Oven-Dried Tomatoes

That's my project today. I have sliced plum tomatoes covered with oregano and basil on parchment paper on a baking sheet in the oven.

We use a lot of sun-dried tomatoes in bread doughs, in salads, and with meat and vegetable dishes. Pasta dishes, too. Wonderful on pizza! So I figured I'd try to dry some in the oven and see what happens.

If it works out, I'll put olive oil in a small jar, add some dried tomatoes and more herbs and they ought to be pretty darn good if I store them in the fridge for awhile.

The rest of them I'll throw in the freezer and pull them out in slices as I need them.

Never tried this before so I hope it works!

It worked! I did take pictures and will post them. Rick and I were standing in the kitchen, eating dried tomato slices...they're really good. As fast as I was taking the finished slices from the cookie sheet, Rick was munching on them. Some of the slices got too dark, but we were eating them anyway. I did get some into a jar with some olive oil and herbs. The rest I put into a freezer bag and tossed them into the freezer to use later. I'm going to do more when we get more ripened tomatoes. (Yesterday afternoon, we had enough ripe tomatoes that I was able to cook down some tomato sauce for the freezer....it takes a lot of tomatoes just for one quart of sauce.)

I'm sorry. I know that not many of you are into cooking and into food the way I am and I apologize for being so excited about trying new things. I just find it so intriguing to do this stuff and to have foods that I've prepared instead of buying them. I get very interested in doing things in the kitchen and I like to share the things I've learned. I'm really not trying to be a Betty Crocker or a Martha Stewart; I just like working in my kitchen.

I'll post the pictures when I get home from work.

Yes, you can dry grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes. And they are delicious.

Basically, preheat your oven to about 225 degrees (I went to 250 and I think the next time, I'll take it only to 225 degrees because I had some brown slices). Halve your tomatoes. Put them on parchment paper on a large cookie sheet. Sprinkle with some basil and oregano, maybe some salt and pepper....not a lot! You want to taste the tomato, not the herbs!

Bake, uncovered, for about 3 hours or until they're dry, but not crispy or brown. They can be just a bit juicy, if you want. It depends on how your oven works, too; some ovens are faster than others.

Let them cool, then place them in a freezer bag and toss them in your freezer. Or place them in a jar with olive oil and the herbs of your choice and place them in the fridge until you're ready to use them. Use them in pasta, on top of pizza, in salads. Use them to stuff a chicken breast (please! You'll be so glad you did!)

I just love tomatoes!

And here are my pictures....keep in mind, they are not perfect by any stretch. But it's my first time!

Raw tomatoes, cored....I sliced them about 1/4-inch thick.



After drying in the oven....they are so good. You don't want them as brown as what some of these are. (Brown yes, but still quite good.)



I put some slices into a jar of olive oil, basil and oregano, with just a wee bit of marjoram thrown in, too. I did not use sugar or salt and pepper. The rest went into a freezer bag.



And here's the jar. There aren't too many left anymore. Since Saturday, Rick has been getting into the jar and snacking on them. (You should keep your jar in the fridge. It may cloud the oil, but it will be OK. I hesitate to leave it in the pantry at room temperature.)



Oh, and do you need an idea of how to use your tomatoes? How about this? Yeast rolls made with dried tomatoes....right before I put a very thin coat of butter on them. They are delicious.



Thank you for looking! And thanks so much for reading my cooking posts!

It is a convection oven, but I didn't use convection on the tomatoes.

I usually use convection when I'm in a hurry to get dinner on the table, but that's about the only time. I have used it when making large batches of cookies.

I hope you try the tomatoes.

I am impressed....and I mean that. That's a lot of food. Where are you storing your food? In the basement? I've asked DH to build me a larger pantry in our basement so that I have room for jars and such. I've tomato sauce, but haven't tried canning it yet. I like the idea of doing juice, too, as I go through a lot of tomato juice in a year.

Are you growing your vegetables? And how did you can tuna???

Gail, DH is thinking about getting a dehydrator. He's getting intrigued with drying foods as a way to preserve them, basically tomatoes, maybe some apples. Bananas. Wonderful for baking.

Do you know I have never had a fried green tomato? Ever? Are they good?

I pm'ed you both.....come for dinner anytime!

Our tomato plants are so heavy with tomatoes, but they weren't ripening. They were just hanging there. They've finally started to ripen now, but we're not getting a lot of tomatoes at one time...maybe like 40 or so? Which is barely enough for one quart of sauce for the freezer, once it's cooked down a bit. It's frustrating. I think we planted 12 or 14 plants: one Lemon Boy, a couple Century II plants, and the rest are Romas. The Lemon Boys are beautiful now, a bright lemon yellow and very sweet.

My father would have dearly loved that recipe in a nice pie. He was always a mincemeat fan, made from meat or from green tomatoes. Mom used to make green tomato mincemeat, just for Dad. She also made mincemeat from venison, I think.