Sundried Tomatoes

These should really be called oven dried tomatoes, but I suspect that the ones we can buy in the store are not actually dried in the sun either.  Big Critic was very nervous about leaving the oven on all night.  I woke up at 3:30 to check on them, but all was well and they turned out perfect!  I didn't want to buy a food dehydrator just for a few tomatoes a year, so the oven worked just fine, but if you are big into dehydrating, then it might be a worthy investment.

Take a full bushel of Roma or Plum tomatoes.  Cut them in half and place them cut side up on a cookie sheet.  Some recipes indicate that you should sprinkle with sea salt, drizzle with oil and dust with fresh thyme.  I didn't do any of these, as I want to keep sodium low and I will add flavour when they are used in recipes. Place the cookie sheet in a 200 degree oven for 10-12 hours.  You will need to keep them in longer if you want to store in a container on the shelf, but this was long enough to concentrate the tomato flavour but they were still a little soft.  Place all the tomatoes into ziplock bags and put 'em in the freezer.

My freezer is now about 60% full and it looks like a rainbow in there!