Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Oven Dried Tomatoes.

Don't let those final tomatoes linger on the vine and freeze.  It's October, time's running out!

Send your kids out to pick them.  You might be tired of eating them now, as you've got how many sitting there waiting in a bowl, but give it a month or two when all you've got are rock hard, off-red, mostly pinkish-orange offerings at the super market.  Blech.  I completely refuse to eat off-season tomatoes.  They've been gassed into semi-ripeness and the very idea of them gives me the creeps.  I don't have many food rules, but one of them is only eat tomatoes seasonally...and preferably from my own garden.  I will eat bottled and canned tomatoes all year as they were processed during peak time.

As you stare at the heap of tomatoes your kids picked, don't worry, I'm not going to make you drag out your canning equipment.  This project is easy.  I was reading my  Mother Earth News and it reminded me about drying tomatoes and then freezing them to use later. 

Oven dried tomatoes are super easy.  You can do a smallish batch at a time.  Very little mess.  You'll be glad you did come pasta day in January.

 Cut your cherry and pear tomatoes in half.

Lay on a piece of parchment, cut side up.

Pour on  a dash of olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place in 250 F. Oven and let slowly dry for about 1.5 hours.  You can have partially dried tomatoes and completely dried tomatoes. If you want them to be completely dry, you'll have to give it a lot more time.  I wanted partially dry, so an hour and a half was good for me.  Let cool.

Spread the dried tomatoes on a plate and freeze them so they are all individually frozen, dehydrated tomato nuggets.  You don't want the tomatoes to freeze to the plate, so every half hour or so, stir them so there is no sticking during the freezing process.  Once they are completely frozen.  Toss in a freezer bag and call them good.

Thanks for reading!


Heather

7 comments:

  1. Okay, so I've never dried anything before. Well...okay, my hair. But...what do you do with them when you take them out of the freezer? I know that sounds like a stupid question, but I've never bought sun-dried tomatoes before, so I'm not sure what to do with oven-dried tomatoes?

    Sincerely,
    Dummy

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  2. Yum I love dried tomatoes we eat them all the time, too good. Haven't used the oven before but the oil and seasoning would be do tasty!

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  3. Thanks Heather! Now I know I can say yes to all the people who want to keep giving me tomatoes!

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  4. my family used to sundried them. It would take several days. Then we would put them in a jar, pressing down and fill it with olive oil. We would use them as appetizers or put in a blender (tomatoes and oil) to make a super fast red pesto. Oh man, I really need to make these again!!!

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  5. That is a GREAT idea. I love sun-dried tomatoes, this must be similar???

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  6. Dang, Danni, I wish people were always trying to give me tomatoes!! I would make tomato sandwiches every day for lunch, and cook one up with my eggs every morning, and serve plain sliced with supper. Ok, that's it next year I'm going to have WAY more tomato plants because my measly two did not cut it!!
    Thanks for these awesome how-tos Heather. Love it, great job:) Di

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  7. I have been meaning to do this for three days! Thanks for the reminder!!

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