Homemade Herbed OVEN-Dried Tomatoes

Sun dried tomatoes are god sent. They go well with just about everything (oh well....); they are excellent for breakfast, quick bites, lunch and dinner!! In the very brief period since I started this blog, I already have 4 dishes featuring sun dried tomatoes. There's the Baked Egg with Duchess Potatoes, Breakfast Salad, Vegetarian Tortila Soup, and Herbed Goat Cheese with Mushroom Relish. If you think you are spending too much money on sun dried tomatoes, as my friend Pee Wee does in Dubai, try making them at home with oven. It doesn't take much effort, just a lot of time investment. It can take as long as 12 hours of low heat to dry in the oven. Once done, they can be stored refrigerated in olive oil for up to 3 months. You can also make basic sun dried tomatoes by omitting all the herbs (pepper included) and olive oil. I was told they stay indefinitely in sealed jar/ bag.

Ingredients:
1kg Roma Tomato (or any variety, cherry tomatoes are ok, too. less seeds is better)
salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried marjoram
Bay leave
Black pepper corn
garlic, slivered
Olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 100C.

2.Trim and discard the stem ends of the tomatoes. Halve each tomato lengthwise. Arrange the tomatoes, cut side up, on the oven rack. Do not allow the tomatoes to touch one another. Sprinkle lightly with salt, ground black pepper, basil and marjoram

3. Place in the oven and bake until the tomatoes are shriveled and feel dry, anywhere from 6 to 12 hours. Check the tomatoes from time to time: They should remain rather flexible, not crispy/ brittle. Once dried, remove the tomatoes from the oven and let cool on cake racks.

4. Transfer tomatoes to a sterile jar. Soak with olive oil, garlic slivers, bay leave and black pepper corn.

This oven dried tomatoes are just as good as sun dried. If you insist to do old-fashioned, time-cosuming way, be my guest. Depending on your weather conditions, this could take anywhere from four days to two weeks:

Place halved tomatoes on a raised screen, lightly sprinkle with salt (and herbs if you like) and place in the hot sun until dry. You'll want to cover them with cheesecloth, raised, so it does not touch the tomatoes, to keep out any critters and provide proper ventilation. You will also need to bring them in during the night, lest the evening dew undo your drying process.