As the days are shortening, the temperature is being crazy and now we have entered what I call late summer here in Michigan. I am a BIG fan of fresh produce and love to frequent farmer’s markets or even farm to table restaurants. This week I would like to share with you my Dried Tomato recipe that I have been busily making the last couple of weeks.

My Dad loves to grow fruit and vegetables; because of this I am used to getting lots and lots of fresh produce. This time of year it’s mostly all about tomatoes and he has been bringing me a bucketful of cherry tomatoes every couple of days. I get pretty creative in using them in absolutely everything from omelets, pastas and just eating them fresh out of the bowl. The last couple of weeks I have been perfecting my dried tomato recipe until it was absolutely perfect! What’s best is that after the tomatoes are dried I can freeze them and use them in recipes all year round.

You can get your printable version here.

 

First make sure that you preheat your oven to 225 degrees. Wash tomatoes and basil leaves. I recommend that you ALWAYS wash your fruits and vegetables no matter where you get them from. It helps with germs, chemicals, bugs etc. 

Cut the tomatoes in half and place in mixing bowl. Chop up basil leaves and add to the tomatoes. I always have fresh basil in a pot in front of my house in the summer, but you can also buy fresh from the store.

Add the seasonings, olive oil to the bowl and stir.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread tomato mixture evenly onto the baking sheet. Make sure the tomatoes do not overlap as this will effect the drying of the tomatoes.

Bake at 225 for 3 hours. Stirring occasionally. Reduce oven heat to 175 and let bake/dry for 5 hours. Make sure to stir occasionally. This will either take all day, or sometimes I put them in the oven overnight. Tomatoes are done when they look dried and taste like candy!

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These are perfect by themselves, to add into pastas or even in recipes like dips. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!