This year I went a little bit crazy buying tomato plants. Over the past few years I’ve tried planting eggplants and I’ve tried zucchini and cucumbers…but always had a measly return for my efforts making me feel like a green failure. Tomatoes on the other hand, grow like a weed and produce exceptional fruit! So this year, I filled every bit of soil with Early Girl tomato plants and a couple of cherry tomato plants.
And now…a few months later, I have tomatoes coming out of my ears, and have been trying out numerous recipes to use them. So far I’ve canned whole tomatoes and tomato sauce. I’ve tried tomato jam with great results. And of course I’ve had hobz biz-zejt u t-tadam (bread with tomatoes and olive oil)…which is my ultimate favourite summer food!!
Then last week, my friend Terrie whom I have known since our school days, posted photos of her oven dried tomatoes and I could not stop drooling!! So here it is…all the way from Holland…Terrie’s Oven Dried Tomato recipe.
Like every maltese cook, Terrie’s recipe went something like this…
“Bit of this and a pinch of that”
You get the picture…so I’m going to try my best and give you the quantities, but please feel free to add or omit and adjust to your heart’s content.
Ingredients
3 lbs tomatoes cut in half and deseeded
salt
1/4 -1/2 cup olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp fresh basil
1 tsp mint
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper
enough oil to pack the tomatoes
Cut the tomatoes in half and deseed. Sprinkle some salt on each half and place them face down on paper towels in a dish and leave them there for about half an hour to absorb some of the juices.
In the meantime, mince the garlic and place in a small bowl along with the rest of the chopped up herbs and salt and pepper.
Quarter the tomatoes and brush them with oil mixture. Place in a prepared dish about half an inch apart. Sprinkle some salt and pepper. Bake in 250 degree oven for about 3-4 hours depending on your oven. Mine took longer so keep checking them until they’re done.
Let cool and place in sterilised jar. Pour enough olive oil to cover the tomatoes. Store in refrigerator.
Looks delish…can’t wait to try them!;-)) xo,Rose
Omg those look soooo amazingly beautiful and even after they are dried their color still retain and it looks so yummy in the oil. I can see so many delish dishes you can prepare with these I wish I have tomatoes like yours! Thanks for sharing and thanks your friend all the way in Holland too 🙂
Thank you qalbi…you should try them next year Ivy…you don’t need a lot of soil…put them in pots!! Nothing tastes quite like a home grown tomato…I know how much you love them!
Tell ’em about the tomato wine!
Oh yeah! Ha ha…totally forgot the numerous pounds of tomatoes that were used in our wine experiment!! I’ll write about that when open our first bottle! Cin Cin!
They look lovely Pupa, I’m sure you will enjoy them! Xxx
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe Terrie…they’re absolutely delicious!! I’ll be thinking of you with every bite 🙂
Those tomatoes look truly amazing! Now I want to try this out xx
Ha ha…that’s funny, cause as I’m making these in the oven, I was thinking of you and thought that next year I want to try drying them in the sun, just like YOU Linda 🙂
I am finally receiving your blog updates!
Tomato wine sounds interesting 🙂 You make me wish we had a garden. I promised Mai that we would have one one day. I’d want to grow oranges and avocados.
Mai is currently taking care of some plants and baby trees in our condo. I think she is using the trees as some sort of hourglass to force me to buy a house when the trees outgrow their pots 🙂
Ha ha…I went for about ten years with just a promise of a rose garden…and now that I finally got it, I’m looking forward to a day where we will retire in a two bedroom apartment with just the essentials:) A garden is a lot of fun don’t get me wrong and I enjoy going out and picking tomatoes or the odd apple and orange…but it is a lot of work too. Avocado is one tree Kevin’s been on about getting but he’s used up all his “tree wishes” with the satsuma/grapefruit/orange we put in four years ago.
We’ll know if the tomato wine is any good by Christmas 2014. So far it looks like a winner…like a white wine!
Wow, how lucky you are to have so many tomatoes! All of that sounds good. Have you posted a recipe for the tomato jam? That sounds interesting. Oven dried tomatoes sound delicious too–it would be great with pasta and perfect for colder weather. Yum…
I’ve been having the tomatoes on bread with olives…like a bruschetta type. I gained 5lbs already…but worth it:) I will try it with pasta and sausage next time…I used to make it all the time and then I kinda forgotten about it…funny how that happens.
No I have not posted the tomato jam recipe. Although I liked it, I found it a bit too sweet for myself…but my husband loved it. So I would like to try it again before I post it and maybe cut down on the sugar?? If you would like to try it, it’s easy. My friend Ivy shared her recipe with me…
1 1/2 cup tomatoes
2/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
pinch of chili if you like
Just cook it down to a jam consistency. Very nice with Goats Cheese and crackers…
Thanks for the recipe! It looks easy, I will have to try this! I don’t like things too sweet either, and tomatoes are naturally sweet anyway. Thankfully tomatoes are always available.