By Lyn Funnell
I could kick myself because we’ve had lovely hot weather lately but I never thought about making sun-drying tomatoes. And it’s ever so easy.
A couple of days ago I suddenly remembered. I had a packet of small cherry tomatoes. So I used them.
Dried tomatoes are expensive. It’s much cheaper to make your own and drying them outside in the sun enriches their flavour.
Cut the tomatoes in half. Lay them in a metal tray. Sprinkle them with salt. Leave them in the sun.
After about an hour, turn them over. This drains the tomato juice.
Turn them back again after an hour or more.
The tomatoes will become dry and wrinkled (like me!)
It might take several days to completely dry them.
Turn them over a few times.
Take them in at night and put them out again when the sun warms up.
When they have become as dry as you want them to be, put them in a clean jar.
Add the herbs of your choice. Oregano is popular but I added two small sprigs of rosemary.
I also added a small amount of garlic.
Top the jar up with olive oil. Cover the top with clingfilm or greaseproof paper.
Put the lid on firmly and give the jar a good shake.
The tomatoes will keep for a long time. When you’ve used them up, the olive oil has a lovely tomatoey flavour which is good as a salad dressing or in Italian pasta dishes.
Let’s hope we get another hot spell so I can make some more!
