Oven Dried – Sun-dried Tomatoes

 

Hello my wonderful readers!

How have you all been? So this time I am back with a simple recipe and it is a super money saver. We absolutely love sun-dried tomatoes and they just go with everything! But buying the packages / bottled kind is super expensive and it honestly does not make sense when you have access to fresh ripe tomatoes right? So this post will help you make simple sun-dried tomatoes and trust me it is super easy.

Ingredients :-

1. Tomatoes – 1 kg ( try using ripe ones)
2. Salt – 1/2 tsp
3. Olive oil – 1 cup
4. Garlic – 4 cloves
5. Basil Leaves – 6

Instructions :-

1. Pre heat your oven to 100 c .  Line a baking sheet with foil and brush with oil . Set aside
2. Wash and pat dry the tomatoes
3. Cut the tomatoes into thin halves lengthwise . If you are using cherry tomatoes, then cutting them into two halves is sufficient . But if you are using regular tomatoes, cut them into thing slices, as they are the quicker to cook.
4. Spread the cut tomatoes out evenly on the prepared baking sheet. Make sure they are not touching each other and there is enough space between the pieces. This will ensure the hot air passes through each piece and it cooks / dries evenly. Drizzle olive oil over the tomatoes. Sprinkle a little salt too. Tuck the basil leaves underneath the tomatoes so they do not burn but they give off their flavour.
5. Make sure to spread olive oil on the basil leaves
6. Now turn the oven mode to the  continuously baking mode. I have a setting on my oven that allows me to leave the oven on till need be
7. Pop the baking sheet into the oven. Now balance a wooden spoon on the door in such a way that there is a little space for the moisture to escape from the oven. (Trust me this helps)
8. Now depending on how ripe and how thin the tomatoes are, this can take 6 – 7 hours
9. Every once in a while just give the tomatoes a mix and turn them over.
10. The smaller pieces will get done faster so you can take them out of the oven sooner.
11. You want to wait till the skin has a leathery feel and they look all de hydrated and small.
12. Once they all are done, let them sit and cool completely. Now you can have them just like that too.
13. If not you can add the rest of the olive oil into a clean glass jar, add the garlic and salt
14. Then add the dried tomatoes and store in a fridge. I have left them for 2 -3 months and they have been fine.
15. Your oven dried / sun dried tomatoes are ready! You can use them in pastas, sandwiches, pizza etc .