Easy “Sun Dried” Tomatoes

tomatoes

Written by KT @ One Organic Mama, Contributing Writer

If your garden is anything like mine – you are being inundated by tomatoes… of all varieties… let me explain.  Because we compost we always get lots of sprouts of various old seeds from the year before… this year because I was pregnant/just had a baby I wasn’t so great at pulling them… Now my backyard is a total jungle of hundreds of tomatoes.  

Each week I make 150+ of them into tomato sauce and freeze it.  The remaining tomatoes get either eaten raw or turned into these super simple sun dried tomatoes.  Don’t worry – you won’t need any sun for these – actually they would make a great rainy day activity! 

Sun Dried Tomatoes

Ingredients:

  • Tomatoes – a low moisture variety – we use plum and cherry tomatoes – any amount of them is fine you can cram them onto a cookie sheet!
  • Olive oil (you need a bunch of this – you’re using it to cook and then to pack the tomatoes)
  • Dried Thyme
  • Dried Basil
  • Salt

 

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with either parchment paper or a silicone mat.  Jam as many tomato halves on there as you can!  They won’t need the space because they are going to shrink.  Douse them with a considerable amount of olive oil (you’re going to dump the excess into a jar for the tomatoes when you’re finished and it will be all yummy flavored – so be generous).  Sprinkle the tomatoes liberally with salt, basil, and thyme.  Put your tomatoes in the oven for 2-8 hours!  Taste the tomatoes along the way and also give them a feel.  You don’t want them to get crunchy on the edges.  You want them to be soft, but with most of the water gone from them.  When they are finished – dump the whole tray, oil included, into a jar and then top with additional olive oil.  Refrigerate!  The oil will harden in the fridge, but no matter,  just take it from the fridge a couple of minutes before you need it and they will be ready to eat!  We love to throw them into the food processor with some fresh basil and then served with Parmesan cheese over warm pasta… mmmmmmm.

How do you use up your excess garden produce?

About KT

Kristin is a mom to two busy boys, a wife to a hardworking husband, and a high school teacher.  She also co-founded the non-profit organization, Kai's Village in memory of the sweetest, bravest two year old with the strongest mama in the world. She loves cooking with fresh local ingredients, gardening, creating fun lessons at home and at school, and sneaking take out with her husband after the kids are in bed. You can find her at One Organic Mama or on Facebook or at the closest Starbucks.