Monday, August 10, 2009

Oven-dried tomatoes

As, I always say-
Homemade is always better than store-bought because when it's homemade, we can know and control the ingredients that go into our food.

I'm not saying that I always make everything homemade, but I try, as much as possible, to do it that way. But, I do have lazy days when I just don't want to enter my kitchen and anything from outside my kitchen sounds great :)

But, I'm not fond of buying sun-dried tomatoes from stores, because I've read that many use sulphur dioxide when drying tomatoes to retain their color. It's not only in dried tomatoes that this chemical is used. It's used even in dried fruits.
Hmmm! We don't want sulphur dioxide in our food right???
So, go homemade on this one. I use my dearest oven to dry my tomatoes.They taste equally good.
In spring and summer, when we get very good tomatoes, I always dry them and store them. To preserve them, you need to add a lot of Olive oil to jar. This is not a waste of olive oil. You can use this olive oil for making pizza's pastas or anything else you wish. The olive oil get's infused with tomato, garlic, oregano and Italian herbs and tastes all the more flavorful.

The flavors in these dry tomatoes are very intense. Great for topping pizzas and crostinis. Great to toss in with some pasta and great in some sandwiches. Go well with some salads too. With 10 tomatoes, I got just half this jar of dried tomato. So, if you want more, use more tomatoes.
Ingredients:
  • Tomatoes- atleast 10
  • Garlic cloves (chopped finely) - 2
  • Oregano - 1 tspn
  • Sugar - 1 tspn
  • Salt - 1/2 tspn
  • Olive oil - 1 tbspn.( plus more for storing the tomatoes)
  • Italian grill seasoning- 1/2 tspn( optional)
Directions:
  • Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 C)
  • Cut tomatoes into halves vertically and scoop out all the seeds and the mushy centre.( I don't discard this tomato liquid. I keep it and use it in some curry or soup)
  • Dry the inside of the tomatoes with paper towels and brush some olive oil on the interior.
  • Line a baking tray with some parchment paper and lay the tomatoes skin-side down on it.
  • Now sprinkle a pinch of salt and sugar on each.
  • Put a little garlic on each tomato( as seen in the pic)
  • Sprinkle oregano and Italian grill seasoning on the tomatoes and put the tray into the oven for 15 mins.
  • Then reduce the oven temperature to 220 degrees F (105 C) and let the tomatoes dry in it for 1-1/2 hours.
  • When the tomatoes are dry, let them cool.
  • To store dried tomatoes, put them in a clean, dry glass jar and fill it to the brim with olive oil. This helps preserve them.
  • This is not a waste of olive oil. You can use this olive oil for making pizza's pastas or anything else you wish. The olive oil get's infused with tomato, garlic, oregano and Italian herbs and tastes wonderful.
  • When using the dried tomatoes out of the jar, use a fork to remove the desired amount of tomatoes from the oil and close the lid of the jar immediately. Chop and serve the tomatoes as you please.
Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha

27 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing. I am surely gonna try this. I love the dried tomatoes.

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  2. This is absolutely new to me.. Will try it soon.. nice clicks..

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  3. very useful post dear. Home made Dried tomatoes sounds healthy.

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  4. cool..thanks for telling us Smitha..:)

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  5. Delightful post Smitha..looks great !!

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  6. That looks soo healthy and yummmmy. Very true,dear store bought can never come close to homemade.Nice clicks as usual :)

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  7. Awesome post Smitha! I really need this. Was thinking about a way to make those and yours came at the right time! And yeah, homemade ones are definitely better!

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  8. totally agree with you - homemade is definitely better and tastes way better too! :)

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  9. I love sun dried tomatoes and they are not available here but as you say... the best thing would be to make them at home and stock them. This is great recipe..I am going to bookmark it. This is not the best season for tomatoes in mumbai but I will still try it with a small quantity. Don't wanna wait till winter.

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  10. I have never used dried tomatoes in cooking.(Are they available in India at all?)I like you for this,taking extreme care to make what you eat :)

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  11. Smitha I love dried tomatoes , as u said i'll use it for everything even for making omelette.. this is really good idea of making home made once.. will surely do next time instead buying..Thanks dear.

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  12. Wow.. this is easy way of dried tomatoes.. Thanks! Try participating in my FIL-Milk event dear!:)

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  13. After a long time.. I received your recipe through mail...

    Oven dried tomatoes... Appa! this is a new recipe I have seen till now... atleast till now..

    How to have this..? ok...

    1. ride on my bike and go to ammumas house.
    2. takesome tomatoes from the kitchen and prepare oven dried tomatoes.
    3. Give it to ammuma to have it..

    The next steps can be imagined..

    4. she will run with a stick after me for destroying her tomatoes.. ha ha...:D kiddding

    This dish was good. I have seen making pickles with tomatoes. Marathis prepare it. They have tomatoes in most of the dishes.

    Will try it first in my kitchen...

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  14. This is absolutely new to me, looks great!

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  15. i am hearing about this for the first time.....good effort dear

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  16. Heard of sun dried tomatoes,oven dried is something new to me..i rembember Ina's episode where she was baking tomatoes,nice recipe liked the seasonings used in the recipe...

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  17. I love the homemade option...very crafty and then u used the old empty smuckers bottle to put the maal masala in?

    i usually use the SDried oil in the very dish im using it for..like pasta, garlic bread, i dont use olive oil..i use the very reserved oil of the sundried tomatoes...but now that u have enligtened me with sulphur dioxide..i wonder what reaction wud have taken place inside my little tummy?
    is it harmful??

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  18. Ur right..homemade stuff is so much better and those tomatoes look great.

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  19. i agree homemade rocks everytime in everything..i will make mine too soon

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  20. These are easier than I thought they'd me ... and yes, you're right, they can be used for so many great Italian style dishes.

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  21. This is a must try! :) Good one Smita :)

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  22. Even I prefer using homemade ingredients.......this recipe is really helpful as we enjoy the flavours of sun dried tomatoes as we frequently use them in salads....thanks for sharing

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  23. Thats very useful post, thanks for sharing!

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  24. Hye nice post .Looks too good ..Thanks for sharing .Thanks for ur comment@my blog

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  25. Hello darling, I just stumpled on your blog and now I can't leave. Everything sounds so delicious. I just featured a post on tomatoes on my blog and I will try this recipe of yours.
    Thanks for sharing, you certainly deserve all your awards. I just signed up as a follower.

    Duchess xx

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  26. Have never thought of maing sundried tomatoes at home. Great idea.

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  27. Thank you for the comments Smitha...

    Smitha, people do not understand the importance of creative singers in the beginning.

    Haan.. the day will come when all will be behind us seeking autographs. :D

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