Tomatoes - Garden Fresh and Oven Dried

Earlier in the summer,  I mentioned that it was going to be a busy season for me and I that may not be posting or able to comment as often as I'd like.  One of the events that made it a busy, but fun, summer was a destination wedding that my husband and I attended in the Colorado mountains last weekend.  We had been to the Rockies on ski trips when our daughters were still living at home but we had never been in the mountains during summer.  We were blown away at how beautiful it was!

We were able to visit a couple of outdoor markets while we were there and I have to tell you that the Colorado produce was fantastic.  We were served a dessert with fresh, Colorado peaches that rivaled any other peach I've ever tasted.  The tomatoes were also amazing.  No wonder, since Colorado boasts that it has 300 sunny days a year.

With our hot, dry and sunny summer, my tomatoes have been enjoying a very productive season also.  Even though it takes lots of TLC to keep them watered this year, they do love the heat and non-humid conditions which is not our norm living next to Lake Michigan.

My cherry tomato plant is particularly happy and I recently made some oven dried tomatoes with them. They are especially good in pasta dishes and also salads as they aren't as hard as commercially dried tomatoes.

I've made oven dried tomatoes several times before, but the technique I used this time was borrowed from A View from Great Island. The thing I liked most about her method was that she gently squeezed out most of the liquid and seeds from each tomato half before putting them in the oven which allows them to dry in the oven even better.

The Method:

Preheat Oven to 200F

1.  Halve the tomatoes and squeeze each half to release some of the juices and pulp.  

2.  Place in a bowl and drizzle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and toss gently.

3.  Place cut side up on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  

4.  Bake and dry for about 4 hours or so in the preheated oven.

5.  Pack in a clean jar with some sprigs of rosemary, and then fill the jar with olive oil to use later or, as I did, after they are cool, freeze them on the baking sheet and then put into plastic freezer bags to use all winter.