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Semi-Dried Tomatoes in Oil

A lovely way to enjoy homegrown or bought tomatoes. Dried in the oven they have the intense flavour of sun-dried tomatoes but retain much of their juiciness.

Stored in the fridge in their herb and garlic scented oil they'll keep 7-10 days.

Course Preserve
Cuisine Italian
Keyword tomatoes, oven-dried
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings 1 medium jar
Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

  • 450 g small tomatoes washed; stalks removed
  • ½ tsp sugar optional
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • extra virgin olive oil (see instructions for amounts) see Recipe Note #1
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar or Balsamic or red wine vinegar
  • ½-1 tsp Aleppo pepper or dried chilli flakes optional

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 140C / 120 Fan / gas 1.

    Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

  2. Wash a medium sized jar and its lid in hot, soapy water, rinse and leave to drain.

  3. Slice the tomatoes in half through their 'equator' and put into a bowl.

    Sprinkle with the sugar if using plus the salt, pepper and HALF of the dried oregano and basil.

    Drizzle over half a tablespoon of the olive oil then mix everything together.

    Place the tomatoes, cut side up, in a single layer on the baking tray.

    Put in the oven and cook for 1 hour.

    (Do step 5 while they're in the oven).

    After 1 hour, check to see if the tomatoes are dried to your liking. Ideally, most of the moisture should have evaporated away, but they should still be a little juicy.

    If they still look very moist in the centres, put back in the oven and continue cooking and checking every 10 minutes (they may need another 30 minutes depending on size).

    When the tomatoes are done, transfer them on their baking parchment to the fridge to cool.

  4. Once the tomatoes are out of the oven, turn the temperature down to its lowest setting. Put the washed and drained jar plus its lid on a small baking tray into the oven.

    When they are hot, remove and leave to cool.

  5. While the tomatoes are in the oven, peel and thinly slice the garlic cloves.

    Put into a small saucepan, cover with water and boil for 3 minutes.

    Drain and set aside in the fridge.

  6. Once cold, put the semi-dried tomatoes into a bowl and add the prepared garlic slices.

    Stir in the wine vinegar.

    Add the remaining half teaspoon each of dried oregano and basil, plus the Aleppo or chilli flakes if using, and 3 tablespoons of olive oil

    Mix everything together well, then take a clean spoon and taste. Add more seasoning if necessary.

  7. Transfer the contents of the bowl to the cold jar.

    Pour over enough oil to completely cover the tomatoes and garlic.

    Stir with a skewer or chopstick to get rid of any air pockets and ensure everything has a coating of oil.

    Make sure the tomatoes and garlic are back down under the oil before screwing on the lid.

  8. Store in the fridge and use within 7-10 days.

    If the oil solidifies, bring the jar to room temperature before using.

    After each use, top up with more oil if needed to keep the tomatoes and garlic completely covered.

Recipe Notes

Note #1 Replace half of the extra virgin olive oil with a lighter, cheaper oil (e.g. sunflower) if you like.