Garden to Table: Sun dried tomatoes
Today I’ll be sharing another garden to table recipe where I’m taking my end of the season cherry tomatoes (Super Sweet 100s) and using them to create delicious sun dried tomatoes. There’s nothing as sweet and deep in flavor as taking tomatoes you’ve grown from seed and turning them into sun dried tomatoes you can enjoy for weeks to come. Forget about the traditional way of laying your tomatoes out in the sun for days to dehydrate! It could not be easier to make. The best thing you’ll notice is that this recipe takes only three ingredients. Cherry tomatoes, good extra virgin olive oil and fresh garlic (that I also grew in my 2024 garden). While I used a dehydrator, you can easily do this method in your oven. See the details in my recipe below.
There’s nothing quite as satisfying as taking the beautiful vegetables that I grew in my garden and turning them into something delicious that can be used in multiple ways. Sun dried tomatoes, the infused olive oil and the garlic can be added to many dishes. Chop them up and use them in pastas, pizza, stews, soups, as a tomato kick for a dip or cream cheese spread and finally as a burst of flavor for any homemade salad dressing.
You can store this goodness in your fridge for 3 to 4 weeks. Better yet, you can freeze the tomatoes in zip baggies for up to 6 months.
Buon Appetito!
Sun dried tomatoes in garlic olive oil
Ingredients
- 4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 cups extra virgin olive oil
- 4-5 cloves fresh garlic
Instructions
- Slice cherry tomatoes in half
- Place parchment on dehydrator trays
- Place tomatoes cut side up, 1/2 inch apart on dehydrator trays
- Place in deyhydrator set at 125-130 degrees for 6-12 hours.
- Check on tomatoes until they are shriveled, leathery and have no remaining moisture. Then pull from dehydrator and cool to room temperature.
- While tomatoes are dehydrating, in a saucepan, warm 2 cups of extra virgin olive and the whole garlic cloves over low heat.
- Remove olive oil and garlic from heat once they barely come up to a low simmer. Do not boil.
- Let garlic infused olive oil sit until completely cooled.
- In a clean glass jar with tight fitting lid, add room temperature dehydrated tomatoes, olive oil and garlic. Secure lid.
- Place jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 weeks
Notes
- If you do not have a dehydrator, place tomatoes on mesh screen over a jelly roll pan in a 145 degree oven for 8 – 12 hours. If your oven has a convection option, please use this setting…it will circulate hot air all around the tomatoes for dehydrating.
- You can top your sliced tomatoes with salt, dried Italian season before dehydrating if you would like. However, the more herbs you have on them, the less time they will stay fresh in the refridgerator.
- Not only can you use the tomatoes in soups, stews, pasta, as a pizza topping, chopped up in some cream cheese for a spread or chopped fine and add to a homemade salad dressing – but the olive oil will be great used in all kinds of cooking. The olive oil will take on the tomato and garlic flavors the longer it sits.
- You can also slice plum style fresh tomatoes (San Marzano, Amish Paste, etc) and deydrate those…just know the larger the tomatoes, the longer the dehydration process will take.
