Some lovers of Mediterranean cuisine prepare sun-dried Cherry tomatoes for the winter. This snack is universal. Quite often it is added to focaccia, sauces, pizza, fish and meat dishes. Making sun-dried tomatoes yourself is not so easy. Before doing this, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with how you can prepare them at home and what recipe to use for this.
Classic recipe
There are a considerable number of methods for preparing such a snack. However, it is the classic recipe that is most often used when preparing sun-dried tomatoes.
To prepare this dish, you will need the following ingredients:
- kilogram of tomatoes;
- 100 g basil;
- 80 g salt;
- two heads of garlic;
- 200 ml oil;
- greenery.
Creating a dish begins with preparing all the ingredients that will be used during cooking. First, it is recommended to start preparing the tomatoes. All tomatoes should be cut into two equal parts and the core and seeds removed. In the future, the removed cored seeds can be used to create tomato paste.
Having finished with the tomatoes, you should start preparing the garlic. To do this, it should be crushed using a mortar and mixed with a small amount of salt.
After preparing the main ingredients, you can start drying the tomato. This is done using an oven, grill or dryer. However, most often, housewives use ovens for this. The baking sheet is covered with foil and greased with olive oil. Then chopped tomatoes with salt and garlic are laid out on its surface. You can also sprinkle them with a little sugar to add sweetness. Sweet tomatoes should be dried for three hours in an oven preheated to 90 degrees. If it is heated more strongly, the drying time will need to be reduced several times.
While the tomatoes are drying in the oven, you should start sterilizing the containers. To do this, a small saucepan is filled with water and covered with a metal sieve. The water is brought to a boil and the jar is placed on the sieve. In this position, it is sterilized within 20 minutes, after which it can be used.
Sun-dried tomatoes should be removed from the oven and placed in a small sterilized jar. They are placed in several layers, which should be mixed with garlic. You also need to add basil and herbs to the container. If there is too much free space in the jar, then pour a little olive oil into it and add hot pepper. In addition, vinegar is added to sun-dried tomatoes, which will increase the shelf life of the product.
See also 
Recipes for pickled cucumbers and celery for the winterRead
With thyme and spices
Some housewives use a recipe for preparing sun-dried tomatoes, which is supplemented with various spices.
This recipe includes the following ingredients:
- kilogram of tomatoes;
- 20 g thyme;
- 100 ml oil;
- spices;
- 20 g basil and oregano;
- 90 g salt.
Preparation of snacks begins with preliminary preparation of ingredients. For drying, not overripe tomatoes are used. They should be dense, without serious damage and rotten spots on the skin. Vegetables are thoroughly washed and their tails are removed. Then each tomato is cut into two equal parts. If the tomatoes are too ripe and juicy, you will have to remove their center. This is done to speed up drying.
Once you've finished with the tomatoes, you should turn to the baking sheet. It is covered with foil, which must immediately be thoroughly greased with oil. After this, all the chopped tomatoes are laid out on the surface. They are then sprinkled with spices and dried herbs. If desired, you can sprinkle the vegetables with Italian, Provençal herbs or marjoram. Having placed the greens on a baking sheet, everything is sprayed with vegetable oil and sent to the oven.
During drying, it is necessary to periodically open the oven door to prevent the tomatoes from drying out. Cooked tomatoes should be soft, not completely dry and hard.
While the tomatoes are drying in the oven, you can start preparing the garlic. It is peeled, finely chopped and added to jars. Then the finished tomatoes are added to the containers. The prepared jars are filled with vegetable oil, rolled up with lids and placed in the refrigerator for further storage.
Conclusion
Anyone can prepare sun-dried Cherry tomatoes for the winter. However, to do this you will have to familiarize yourself with the various methods of preparing this dish and choose one or another recipe for this.
See also 
Recipe for preparing pickled mushrooms for the winter in jarsRead
America is often criticized for trying to impose its mentality, lifestyle, products, fashion and even food habits on other countries. In cartoons and films, characters enthusiastically eat hamburgers, hot dogs, glazed donuts (especially police officers) and drink Coca-Cola. We talk about the harmfulness of such food, we advise instead to eat more healthy vegetables and fruits, forgetting that many vegetables that are firmly established in our cookbooks were also brought from North or South America. Potatoes, corn, cocoa, sunflowers, capsicums, tomatoes - all these are native Americans and came to our table thanks to the efforts of old Columbus and other brave people, for which we are deeply grateful. Today we will talk about a wonderful dish - sun-dried tomatoes. Any housewife, with due diligence, can prepare them at home.
A little about tomatoes
In particular, the tomato was born in South America. There you can still find its wild relatives there. The Aztecs called it “tomatl”, hence the familiar name “tomato”. “Tomato” means golden apple in Italian. The name reflects the essence - from a botanical point of view, it is a fruit, or at least a berry. We consider it a vegetable based on how it is used for food and its taste. There was also the story of the US Supreme Court, which in 1893 recognized the product as a vegetable and ordered that the appropriate customs duty be paid for it (it is higher for vegetables). But the European Union was not afraid to break the mold, and in 2001 recognized the tomato as a fruit. We also have a clear position on this issue; it can be formulated as follows: “A tomato is a tomato in Africa, and it doesn’t matter whether it is a fruit or a vegetable.”
We love tomatoes and actively use them in our diet. Fresh, salted, in their own juice, juice from them (in this case they suddenly acquire the name of tomatoes), tomato paste, ketchup. We eat them fried, stewed and boiled, stuffed and cut into rings, used both in sauces and dressings, and as an independent dish. It is believed that the Aztecs never dreamed of how much they could make from this fruit vegetable.
It would seem that the theme of tomatoes in our kitchen is fully explored, but... Not so long ago, a new snack for us, “Dried Tomatoes,” appeared in stores. In small jars there are wrinkled red slices filled with oil, judging by the price, made of pure gold. Just kidding, they are made from tomatoes, and as for the high price, dried apricots are also much more expensive than apricots.
The authors of the recipe are Italians who add sun-dried tomatoes to everything: salads, pizza, pasta, meat and fish dishes, and even bread. Our compatriots also tried this product, rich in taste, color and smell, and began to prepare it themselves. You will be offered several recipes for preparing sun-dried tomatoes in your own kitchen, choose the one that suits you best.
Classic Italian recipe for sun-dried tomatoes
In sunny Italy, the birthplace of sun-dried tomatoes, everything happens simply under the scorching sun.
This option can be done if you live in dry and sunny regions, where you can count on daily sunbathing. We have many such places in our country. If you are a happy resident of the south, go ahead, tomatoes are waiting for you.
But, by a fateful coincidence, not everyone lives in the south. Most of the population settled in much less resort areas. Why should they now give up their dream of pampering themselves with sun-dried tomato pizza? Well, I do not. For residents of cool and frankly cold regions, there are domesticated options that use various household appliances for temperature processing of food: oven, microwave, vegetable dryer.
Let's start with the “oven” method, as the most common and most accessible, since everyone has ovens.
Sun-dried tomatoes in the oven6 recipes at home
Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya with photos step by step
Yulia Vysotskaya is a well-known host of the culinary program “Eating at Home” in every home, an actress, the wife of director Andron Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky, the mother of his two children and simply a beauty.
This recipe is distinguished by its simplicity and speed of execution, however, like everything that Julia cooks.
In Yulina’s language, you take:
Video from the famous culinary master
A method for preparing sun-dried tomatoes for the winter from Vincenzo Barba
Vincenzo Barba is a certified Italian chef. Originally from Italy. The character is appropriate.
Vincenzo also offers a recipe for oven-dried tomatoes.
We will need:
In this video, Vincenzo Bara shows how to properly prepare tomato dishes.
Video guide from the chef
Dried cherry tomatoes
In previous recipes, only the “cream” variety was called as a raw material for drying - fleshy fruits with a hard skin of an elongated shape, reminiscent of a plum. But this is not the only variety that can be dried. Quite often small round cherry tomatoes are dried.
Cooking cherry tomatoes in the oven: video
Vegetables in the dryer
The closest thing to the authentic recipe for the desired dish was the homemade method of drying tomatoes in a vegetable dehydrator. It will not be exactly the same as in the sun, but still they will dry out and not bake.
We will need:
How to use an electric dryer for drying: video tip
Microwave dried tomatoes
For those who do not have the time, desire or opportunity to cook sun-dried tomatoes in the sun, oven or vegetable dehydrator, we can offer an express method using a microwave.
It's quick to prepare, but you'll have to work hard.
Nutritionists say that if you eat a variety of foods, you don’t have to worry about obesity. Of course, no one canceled exercise, but adding something new to your life is really useful, and not only on the table. New impressions, knowledge and skills develop memory, emotional and sensory spheres. As for new dishes, “The discovery of a new dish is more important for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a new star” (Anthelme Brillat-Savarin). Therefore, do not be afraid to experiment, at least in the kitchen, and color your life with new colors.
step by step recipe with photos
If you love Mediterranean cuisine, then you should always have sun-dried cherry tomatoes in your refrigerator. These aromatic tomatoes can be added to pizza, sauce, focaccia or any other baked goods (bread), salads, meat and fish dishes. Of course, sun-dried tomatoes can be purchased at the store, but if you understand the process of preparing them, it becomes clear that you need and can make such a delicious dish at home. To do this, you need an oven or an electric dryer - quick methods or a slower one - on the windowsill or on the balcony (in the sun).
Ingredients
- 1 kg cherry tomatoes
- 50 ml olive oil
- 0.5 tsp. dried basil
- 0.5 tsp. dried oregano
- 0.5 tsp. dried thyme
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp. l. salt
- spices as desired
Preparation
1. For drying, take medium-ripe tomatoes; they should be firm, without rot spots or any other damage.
2. Tear off the tails and wash the vegetables. Cut each tomato into two equal halves. If the tomatoes are very juicy or very ripe, then the middle can be removed. Otherwise, the tomatoes will dry for a long time.
3. Cover a baking sheet with baking paper and grease it with olive or any other vegetable oil. Place the tomato halves close to each other.
4. Salt the tomatoes with regular table salt or any other salt, for example sea salt.
5. You can mix the dried herbs at once and sprinkle the tomato halves with this mixture or sprinkle separately with thyme, basil and oregano. You can also add marjoram, Provençal herbs (take a ready-made mixture), and Italian herbs. Sprinkle with vegetable oil.
6. Place the baking sheet in the oven and set the temperature to 100 degrees. You need to dry it for a couple of hours, but you can open the oven door slightly and periodically check the tomatoes so that they do not dry out. It is important that the halves remain soft, like plasticine, and not dry. While the tomatoes are drying, peel the garlic and chop finely.
Some lovers of Mediterranean cuisine prepare sun-dried Cherry tomatoes for the winter. This snack is universal. Quite often it is added to focaccia, sauces, pizza, fish and meat dishes. Making sun-dried tomatoes yourself is not so easy. Before doing this, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with how you can prepare them at home and what recipe to use for this.
There are a considerable number of methods for preparing such a snack. However, it is the classic recipe that is most often used when preparing sun-dried tomatoes.
To prepare this dish, you will need the following ingredients:
- kilogram of tomatoes;
- 100 g basil;
- 80 g salt;
- two heads of garlic;
- 200 ml oil;
- greenery.
Creating a dish begins with preparing all the ingredients that will be used during cooking. First, it is recommended to start preparing the tomatoes. All tomatoes should be cut into two equal parts and the core and seeds removed. In the future, the removed cored seeds can be used to create tomato paste.
Having finished with the tomatoes, you should start preparing the garlic. To do this, it should be crushed using a mortar and mixed with a small amount of salt.
After preparing the main ingredients, you can start drying the tomato. This is done using an oven, grill or dryer. However, most often, housewives use ovens for this. The baking sheet is covered with foil and greased with olive oil. Then chopped tomatoes with salt and garlic are laid out on its surface. You can also sprinkle them with a little sugar to add sweetness. Sweet tomatoes should be dried for three hours in an oven preheated to 90 degrees. If it is heated more strongly, the drying time will need to be reduced several times.
While the tomatoes are drying in the oven, you should start sterilizing the containers. To do this, a small saucepan is filled with water and covered with a metal sieve. The water is brought to a boil and the jar is placed on the sieve. In this position, it is sterilized within 20 minutes, after which it can be used.
Sun-dried tomatoes should be removed from the oven and placed in a small sterilized jar. They are placed in several layers, which should be mixed with garlic. You also need to add basil and herbs to the container. If there is too much free space in the jar, then pour a little olive oil into it and add hot pepper. In addition, vinegar is added to sun-dried tomatoes, which will increase the shelf life of the product.
With thyme and spices
Some housewives use a recipe for preparing sun-dried tomatoes, which is supplemented with various spices.
This recipe includes the following ingredients:
- kilogram of tomatoes;
- 20 g thyme;
- 100 ml oil;
- spices;
- 20 g basil and oregano;
- 90 g salt.
Preparation of snacks begins with preliminary preparation of ingredients. For drying, not overripe tomatoes are used. They should be dense, without serious damage and rotten spots on the skin. Vegetables are thoroughly washed and their tails are removed. Then each tomato is cut into two equal parts. If the tomatoes are too ripe and juicy, you will have to remove their center. This is done to speed up drying.
Once you've finished with the tomatoes, you should turn to the baking sheet. It is covered with foil, which must immediately be thoroughly greased with oil. After this, all the chopped tomatoes are laid out on the surface. They are then sprinkled with spices and dried herbs. If desired, you can sprinkle the vegetables with Italian, Provençal herbs or marjoram. Having placed the greens on a baking sheet, everything is sprayed with vegetable oil and sent to the oven.
During drying, it is necessary to periodically open the oven door to prevent the tomatoes from drying out. Cooked tomatoes should be soft, not completely dry and hard.
When harvesting a tomato crop, some tomatoes can be set aside for drying. Drying tomatoes is very simple; in the future, it turns out to be a good additive for everyday dishes and baked goods. The attractive appearance of dried fruits immediately awakens the appetite, so they won’t sit around for a long time – you’ll want to eat them right away.
How to choose
Tomatoes must be selected for drying, as there are a number of specific requirements:
- Tomatoes should have a thick skin.
- The size of the fruit in diameter should not exceed 10 centimeters.
- The tomatoes should be slightly underripe.
- The skin and pulp should not show signs of disease or damage.
It is better not to use greenhouse fleshy varieties of tomatoes for drying; the pulp of such fruits flows out along with the juice, which is very inconvenient when preparing the product. Preference should be given to outdoor or greenhouse varieties with a dense seed chamber, while the color of the skin is not important, you can take any fruit.
Benefit
The composition of the dried tomato pulp does not change significantly, which means that it still contains most of the known minerals: magnesium, potassium, calcium, zinc, iron and other nutrients. The benefits of tomatoes remain, therefore, when consumed in dried form, the blood is cleansed, toxins are removed and free radicals are neutralized.
Regular consumption of dried tomatoes can strengthen the immune function of the human body and even reduce the risk of cancer. It is especially useful for older people and young children to eat dried tomatoes.
Preparation
When the tomatoes have already been selected, they need to be prepared a little. The skin is not peeled off; the stalk is cut out with a sharp knife. There is no need to salt the tomatoes yet. Adding salt provokes the formation of excess juice, as a result of which the tomatoes will take a long time to dry.
After the stem is cut out, the tomatoes need to be cut into plastic pieces with a sharp knife. The thickness of the plastic should be at least 5-7 millimeters. However, you should not cut vegetables too thickly - this will lead to a long drying time, and they will look less beautiful than thin slices. Then you can start drying.
How to dry tomatoes at home
There are several methods for drying. The principle of their operation is similar, since they all use thermal effects on the pulp. The more intense the thermal effect, the faster the drying process will occur. Drying time takes from several hours to several days. It all depends on the chosen method. You can use household appliances, they help save time. Even in the absence of household appliances, you can dry tomatoes at home, for example, in the sun.
Outdoors (in the sun)
The easiest way to dry is to spread the tomatoes on a sunny windowsill and wait until they dry completely. Place the sliced vegetables on a windowsill lined with cling film or parchment. You need to lay them in one row, so drying will proceed faster.
If the weather is warm and the sun shines every day, then drying takes no more than 5-6 days. During this time, the slices decrease in size by 1.5-2 times, and their flesh becomes more saturated in color and feels firm to the touch. To assess readiness, you need to try one slice. If it takes a long time to taste, has become plastic, but at the same time smells aromatic and has a sweetness, then you can stop drying, the tomatoes are ready.
Important!
When drying in the sun, tomato slices need to be turned over every day. This will make them dry faster.
Using an electric dryer
Electric dryers are specially used for drying vegetables and berries. The device allows you to obtain the final product in just a few hours. To add some spice to the tomatoes, you can add some seasonings; they will enhance the taste and give a subtle aroma. Here's an example recipe:
- 1 kg of tomatoes;
- 1 tsp sunflower oil;
- ½ tsp. paprika;
- mixture of greens (basil, dill, onion);
- ground black pepper.
Spread a thin layer of spices and pepper onto the chopped tomatoes and sprinkle with oil. Then the pieces are placed on the rack in the dryer and the device is plugged in. Heating must take place for at least 2 hours, with readiness checked every hour. If the tomatoes do not dry well, increase the heating intensity. When the slices are ready, they are allowed to cool to room temperature, then they can be stored.
In the oven
If you don’t have an electric dryer at home, you can use the oven. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and lightly grease it with oil. Place tomato circles on parchment. You can squeeze a couple of cloves of garlic on top of the mugs - this will add flavor to the vegetables. You can sprinkle the mugs with dry basil or parsley. Greens will add not only taste, but also a beautiful appearance.
Place the baking sheet with vegetables in an oven preheated to 100 degrees and open the door slightly. The drying process takes 4-6 hours. 2 hours after the start, readiness is checked every half hour. Heating is stopped as soon as the fruits become plastic and hard.
In the microwave
You can dry tomatoes in the microwave in about 20-30 minutes. The moisture from the fruit evaporates instantly, but the juice may splash along the walls of the oven, which can complicate further cleaning. You can cook tomatoes in the microwave according to the recipe, for which you will need:
- 0.8-1 kg of tomatoes;
- a pinch of red pepper;
- ½ tsp. oregano;
- ½ tsp. parsley or cilantro;
- 1 tbsp. vegetable oil;
- 1 garlic clove.
Place the tomatoes on a large flat plate greased with vegetable oil. Squeeze garlic on top of the vegetables and add spices. Place the plate in the oven and turn on the heating at a power of no more than 800 watts. When the pulp begins to dry out, you need to adjust the heat minute by minute. Then take out the slices and cool at room temperature.
Attention!
To dry in the microwave, use heat-resistant containers.
How to dry cherry tomatoes
Since tomatoes are small in size, they dry out faster than regular fruits. You can cut them lengthwise into small pieces or divide them into two halves. After this, spices are added to them and drying begins using any described method. Below is a recipe for drying cherry tomatoes.
Ingredients:
- 0.5-0.8 kg cherry;
- 1 tsp olive oil;
- ½ tsp. Provençal herbs;
- a pinch of paprika.
Cut the fruits in half or into 3-4 parts, put them in a cup, add oil and spices. Gently mix the contents so that all the slices are covered in spices and oil. Then place the slices in an electric dryer or oven and dry. Periodically check the fruits for readiness. The dried slices are sprinkled with a small amount of salt and stored.
How to assess readiness
The final result depends on the desired consistency. You can cook tomatoes completely dried, in which case they will be very hard, but they can be added to food when cooked. The optimal option is the condition in which the flesh bends in the hands and tastes chewed for a long time. At the same time, the slices are pleasant to the touch, do not stick to each other, and are easily separated from the surface.
To assess readiness, just touch the tomatoes, but this must be done with extreme caution, as they are very hot. You can pierce the fruits with a fork or knife; the instruments pass through the finished pulp with some effort.
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