Oven-dried Tomatoes

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Vegan/Gluten-Free/Nut-Free

Skill Level: Beginner

Yield: About 2 pints

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes

Cook Time: 8-12 hours

Equipment Needed:

• Cutting board

• Tomato knife

• Large rimmed baking sheet

• Parchment paper

• Cooling rack

• Tongs

• Four 1/2 pint-sized jars or two pint-sized jars

The Recipe:

This recipe was adapted from a recipe by the Philos Kitchen website

Ingredients:

• About 5 pounds Roma tomatoes

• 1 tablespoon table salt

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 2-3 cups extra virgin olive oil

• 2-4 whole, peeled garlic cloves

• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

• 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Mix the salt and sugar together in a small bowl. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle about half of the salt/sugar mixture over the parchment paper on the pan.

3. Wash the tomatoes and pat dry. Use a serrated knife to cut each tomato in half crosswise. Spread the tomato halves out in a single layer on the prepared pan.

4. Sprinkle the remaining salt/sugar mixture evenly over the tomatoes, and place pan on the middle rack in your oven.

5. Start checking for doneness around the 8 hour mark. At that point, you may choose to remove tomatoes that look like they are done (shriveled, dry, possibly some black marks or charring). As you remove tomatoes, use a tongs to transfer them to a cooling rack. Let tomatoes cool completely before packing into jars.

6. Sterilize your glass jars by putting them in a large pot of water, bringing the water to a boil, and letting the jars boil for 10 minutes. Allow jars to air dry briefly before proceeding to the next step.

7. Fill each jar about half full with tomatoes. Divide your garlic cloves, oregano, and peppercorns evenly between the jars, then top with the rest of your tomatoes.

8. Fill jars with olive oil, using a small rubber or silicone scraper (or a chopstick) to periodically push tomatoes down so that you can completely cover them with oil. Be sure you have at least 1/2 an inch of space left at the top of your jars.

9. At this point, you can cover your jars and store in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks. If you are familiar with a water-bath or pressure-canning method, you could also process your cans of tomatoes for longer storage.

To Serve: You can use these oven-dried tomatoes just like sun-dried tomatoes! Mix them with pasta, pesto, and chunks of fresh mozzarella or burrata for a caprese-inspired pasta dish; slice them up and throw them in a salad, put them on your grilled cheese sandwich or rolled up with turkey and cheese in a wrap, feature them on your charcuterie board...endless possibilities!

Tips:

• I always cut tomatoes using a small serrated knife (I have an inexpensive one linked in the equipment needed section); it makes cutting a ton of tomatoes in half or quarters a snap because it easily bites through the skin.

• We have a few oversized baking sheets from Costco that I love for jobs like this one; I linked a similar product above as well.

• The seasonings in the oil could easily be altered or omitted; I added the garlic clove but otherwise used the mixture recommended by the original author. I could see including a small sprig of rosemary as a nice addition next time, or a sprinkle of dried basil or Italian seasoning.

• If you are using the peppercorns, take care to make sure they stay in the jar when you are eating/serving your tomatoes. I pulled a tomato out one night and ate it plain, unaware that there was a whole peppercorn tucked in one of the folds...not the most pleasant experience :)

• If you are using these in a salad or pasta dish, you might consider rinsing them and patting them dry before adding, to prevent your dish from becoming excessively oily.

• Although I have not tried it, you could also skip packing these in oil all together. I think the oil and spices add a lovely depth of flavor, but you could store these in an airtight container on their own, or pack them into freezer bags and freeze for up to 2 months.

The Story:

This prolonged summer has been so awesome for produce, right?! It's October, and we are still picking tomatoes off our little plants on the deck.

For three days straight, one of my coworkers sent out emails that read "Crazy tomato lady here, we have way too many tomatoes and I put some in the staff lounge, help yourself!" The first day, I didn't see the email until the end of the day and figured they were probably all gone by that point. However, when she sent out the second email, I decided to go take a peek and see just how many tomatoes we were talking.

I will fully admit I was thinking there would maybe a mixing-bowl's worth of tomatoes, so when I walked in to find two gigantic crates FILLED with beautiful, red Roma tomatoes, I trotted back to my foods room, grabbed a large bowl, and filled it up with zero guilt. My next stop was Google, to ask for Roma tomato recipes, where I stumbled upon this "sun" dried tomato recipe that was written by an Italian blogger. Always game for a challenge and a new recipe, I decided to give it a go.

You can definitely tell the sun has set between the previous photo and this one, but these are worth the wait!

This recipe takes a bit of advanced planning; I had to make sure we would be home most of the day with the 8-12 hour cooking time, and that I could start them early in the morning so I wouldn't be up until midnight. I weighed my bounty and was delighted to find that I had grabbed about 6 pounds, enough for this recipe with a few extra to make a garlicky spaghetti dish for dinner that featured broiled sliced Romas with parm and pine nuts.

My garlicky spaghetti with broiled Romas, yum!

I checked my tomatoes at the 8 hour mark and found that they were looking very nicely dried out. I used the convection setting on my oven, so they may have gone a little faster than if I hadn't. I first tasted one of these on a little triangle of pita bread with some ricotta...heaven. They are so deliciously acidic, sweet, and savory, all at the same time. If I'm being perfectly honest...I haven't even used these in a recipe or dish yet! I've been enjoying them with a bit of Manchego and a jar of olives as a late-night snack.

Love at first bite

Circle back to the origin story of my Romas, the day after I took home my haul, I caught my coworker walking into the building with yet another large crate of tomatoes. I thanked her profusely and queried about the excessive amount of tomatoes. She confessed that her husband had planted over 200 Roma tomato plants (I think the exact words she used were "I couldn't stop him"), and that he had made a hobby out of lovingly caring for all his plants over the summer. Why one would grow such a crop with few plans for the fruits of their labor is beyond me...but I'm grateful :)

SUPER easy weeknight dinner; reduced some heavy cream over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes, then added pesto and plenty of freshly grated parm, and seasoned with salt and pepper to make a creamy pesto sauce. Mixed in cooked tortellini and these delicious oven-dried tomatoes (patted dry and sliced).

Happy tasting!