Wash the tomatoes- (Roma tomatoes work best).
Cut them in half lengthwise.
Place the tomatoes skin side down on a framed screen and spread them out so that none are touching. Salt the tomatoes lightly. The drying process will concentrate all the flavor in the juice. Use a cheesecloth to cover over the screen & protect the tomatoes from dirt, dust & insects. Raise the cheesecloth off the tomatoes slightly with wood skewers. Place the screen outside in the sun. Use boards to raise the screen a few inches and allow air to circulate underneath it. It will take at least a few days of sunshine, sometimes up to 12 days, to properly dry the tomatoes. You'll need to bring the screens indoors overnight.
When your tomatoes have dried, they will have a dark red color or if using yellow, pink, white etc. type tomatoes they will have a darker, more intense color than they originally had. They should feel dry and pliable or leathery to the touch. They shouldn't be hard and brittle or moist.
They can be stored dried in plastic bags or in oil with herbs.
If your having rainy weather or just need them done a bit quicker you can dry in a food dehydrator or in your oven. I like to slice the tomato into rounds. Spread evenly onto the screens and dry according to your dehydrators recommendations. For the oven, I put onto parchment or cooling rack set into cookie sheet. with the oven on the lowest setting I let sit in the warm oven until they feel dry but pliable (takes several hours--I check at 45 min intervals. as they get closer5 to being done I check more frequently. Store in ziplock bags or container with tight fitting lid either without or swimming in a good EVOO and herbs or a garlic clove.
You can also make something similar to mi-cuit tomatoes which are really versatile (and more delicious than sun-dried in my opinion).
Stove or oven-dried tomatoes
Slice the tomatoes into the thinnest wedges you can without them falling over. You want them to stand on their peel on an oiled baking tray. Drizzle with a little olive oil and then sprinkle with salt, black pepper and then the merest dusting of caster sugar. Two baking trays- full made a bit more than 500g – you need a lot as the water content evaporates. Put the trays in the oven and leave them for at least 8 hours or overnight (I think you can do this on the warming plate of an Aga too but they’re a bit thin on the ground in Dubai). Remove them when they get the to stage of dryness that you like. The longer you leave them the more like sun-dried tomatoes they become (chewy and caremelised). There's a tartlet recipe and pictures of the tomatoes here:
http://mycustardpie.com/2010/04/08/stove-dried-tomatoes-for-tiny-tarte-tatins
Answers
July 5, 2011
Wash the tomatoes- (Roma tomatoes work best).
Cut them in half lengthwise.
Place the tomatoes skin side down on a framed screen and spread them out so that none are touching. Salt the tomatoes lightly. The drying process will concentrate all the flavor in the juice. Use a cheesecloth to cover over the screen & protect the tomatoes from dirt, dust & insects. Raise the cheesecloth off the tomatoes slightly with wood skewers. Place the screen outside in the sun. Use boards to raise the screen a few inches and allow air to circulate underneath it. It will take at least a few days of sunshine, sometimes up to 12 days, to properly dry the tomatoes. You'll need to bring the screens indoors overnight.
When your tomatoes have dried, they will have a dark red color or if using yellow, pink, white etc. type tomatoes they will have a darker, more intense color than they originally had. They should feel dry and pliable or leathery to the touch. They shouldn't be hard and brittle or moist.
They can be stored dried in plastic bags or in oil with herbs.
July 5, 2011
If your having rainy weather or just need them done a bit quicker you can dry in a food dehydrator or in your oven. I like to slice the tomato into rounds. Spread evenly onto the screens and dry according to your dehydrators recommendations. For the oven, I put onto parchment or cooling rack set into cookie sheet. with the oven on the lowest setting I let sit in the warm oven until they feel dry but pliable (takes several hours--I check at 45 min intervals. as they get closer5 to being done I check more frequently. Store in ziplock bags or container with tight fitting lid either without or swimming in a good EVOO and herbs or a garlic clove.
July 5, 2011
You can also make something similar to mi-cuit tomatoes which are really versatile (and more delicious than sun-dried in my opinion).
Stove or oven-dried tomatoes
Slice the tomatoes into the thinnest wedges you can without them falling over. You want them to stand on their peel on an oiled baking tray. Drizzle with a little olive oil and then sprinkle with salt, black pepper and then the merest dusting of caster sugar. Two baking trays- full made a bit more than 500g – you need a lot as the water content evaporates. Put the trays in the oven and leave them for at least 8 hours or overnight (I think you can do this on the warming plate of an Aga too but they’re a bit thin on the ground in Dubai). Remove them when they get the to stage of dryness that you like. The longer you leave them the more like sun-dried tomatoes they become (chewy and caremelised). There's a tartlet recipe and pictures of the tomatoes here:
http://mycustardpie.com/2010/04/08/stove-dried-tomatoes-for-tiny-tarte-tatins
Enoy.