Drying Tomatoes

In my youth, I despised fresh tomatoes. They were a unique form of torture. Now I can tolerate them; occasionally I even enjoy them. But I love dried tomatoes. My preferred method of consumption is on top of freshly cooked pasta covered in olive oil with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and pine nuts. That dish is so wonderful, in fact, that I planted tomato plants expressly for the purpose of drying the fruits.

The ones I grew myself are below. I simply sliced them, sprinkled some sea salt on top and threw on some basil.

These I purchased. I blanched (about 30 seconds) them and removed the skins to facilitate quicker drying. I sliced these grape tomatoes in half.

I dried the tomatoes at 145 F for a couple hours and then 135 F for about five more hours. The time can vary greatly depending on the size of the tomato. They should be leathery, somewhat pliable, but ...well, dry.

Some in the top photo are actually a bit too done. Notice the handful of dark tomatoes. And some of these were not quite dry enough for storage. I left those a bit longer.

 I stored them in an airtight container and am looking forward to my favorite pasta dish on a cold winter day!