Slow-dried Cherry Tomatoes (Oven-dried)

I love sun-dried tomatoes. That slow drying process removes the water from the tomato, leaving all the flavour behind, so what you're left with is tomato(flavour) x 10. You can get them quite easily at the supermarket, but they're so expensive, so when I saw cherry tomatoes at a reduced price, I figured it's time for some DIY!

London's grey and gloomy these days, but while I may not have the warm Italian sunshine, I have an oven!

Ingredients

500g pack of cherry tomatoes (You can try this with plum tomatoes, it will pack an even sweeter punch!)

1 clove of garlic

sea salt, freshly ground black pepper

pinch of dried basil

extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Cut tomatoes into halves.

2. Scoop out most of the seeds, then salt the insides. Leave them cut side down on a rack, before rinsing and drying. I missed this step, so my tomatoes still ended up with a bit of juiciness to it. But they tasted yummy so I didn't feel too bad. Just can't keep as well, although, I ended up finishing it in a day anyway.

3. Crush the garlic with the sea salt, then add the pepper and basil. Spread over the cut side of the tomatoes.

4. Place tomatoes cut side up on a baking tray in a single layer. Drizzle over the evoo.

5. Put into oven to dry at 100 degrees celsius, for at least 3h, or preferably overnight.

6. Once done, put tomatoes and the tomato-infused oil into clean and sterilised jars, top with more evoo, and seal. It should keep for months if done properly, but you'll probably use it up way before that.

This:

will shrink to this:

So if you've got a lot of tomatoes and a lot of oven space, do a larger batch at a go!

You can puree it to make a delicious sauce, or add it to savoury baked goodies, or simply toss with pasta-- definitely an easy and yummy addition to your kitchen.

This is part of Tasty Tuesdays, and Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.