Dried Tomatoes

One of my favourite appetizer is dried tomatoes. You can also add it to pizza, pasta, salads, fish, meat. I love just to put it on the bread and eat like this.

Step 1: Ingredients

• Tomatoes (1-1,5 kg for one oven-tray). I usualy take 3-4 kg because after drying you will get small quantity of tomatoes.
• Garlic to the taste
• Extra virgin ovile oil (or you can also use sunflower oil)
• Dried herbs: basil, rosemary, oregano, thyme, marjoram.
• Salt

Step 2: Preparation for Drying

Wash the tomatoes nicely, cut them into halves. I use not too small size tomatoes and not too big.

Now you need to remove peduncle and seeds (you can make tomato sause from seeds core)

You can use tea spoon to remove seeds but I usualy use spoon for melon\watermelon carving.

Step 3: Drying

Now we need to dry tomatoes.

You can do it in two ways:

1) Put on the oven-tray and dry in the oven (60-100 degrees Celcium) for 3-6 hours (with open oven lid).

2) Use the electic dryer (as I do)

When you put tomatoes on the oven-tray or into the electic dryer just sprinkle tomatoes with the salt.

Do not dry tomatoes to the fragile condition!!! In the end of drying tomatoes should be a lil bit wet.

Step 4: Spices and Garlic

Cut the galic cloves into petals.

Mix dried spices.

Take a class jar.

Step 5: Make an Layers

Now start to put in the glass jar pinch of garlic, than a lil bit of tomatoes, than pinch of spices, than pour a lil bit of oil.

Countinue with the same layers till the jar will be full.

Step 6: Almost Ready

Notice that in the end oil should cover tomatoes otherwise it will spoil.

Keep in the refrigerator and Bon Appetit!

P.S. Oil after tomatoes you can re-use in the salads.