Preserve summer by dehydrating or oven drying your favorite tomatoes. Pack some in jars with extra virgin olive oil and thyme branches. A refreshing burst of sweetness!
I like to dehydrate my tomatoes until somewhat dry and chewy. These are not very dry tomatoes. They still have tomato texture a little chewy with dry edges.
Dehydrated tomatoes are sweet!!! ~ a refreshing burst of sweetness.
Use them to top many of your culinary creations – toss into pasta dishes (even lasagne!), any sautéed chicken or fish dish, as a topping for sandwiches, the base for bruschetta, fold into a softened cheese for the ultimate dip or filling – as a filling for omelets and frittatas…
I made so many (couldn’t resist all those colorful tomato gems at the farmers’ market) dried tomatoes ~ and layered them into canning jars and poured in a good fruity olive oil to submerge them ~ these will last for weeks in the refrigerator.
I also added thyme branches from my garden and dehydrated them with the tomatoes. When stored in oil – it’s best to dry the thyme for long storage (fresh thyme has a lot of moisture, and will not last as long.)
And ~ they are so simple to prepare! Lay the tomatoes on mesh trays of your dehydrator, set it and forget it! Takes about 4 hours to dehydrate. See my recipe too for an oven dehydrated method.
For a quick room temperature sauce: Scoop out some dried tomato halves with some olive oil their packed in – to a small bowl. Add grated garlic to taste, salt and freshly grated pepper and a good dash of aged balsamic vinegar. Add fresh herbs and let macerate for a half hour.
I topped fresh grilled salmon off the grill with this sauce.
How about creaming some goat cheese, and adding these marinated tomatoes for a really tasty dip or filling?!
Have fun dehydrating and enjoy!
Karen