Plump Ruby Bites: A Recipe for Slow Oven Dried Tomatoes with Sumac

Weekend Herb Blogging #105

Susan from The Well Seasoned Cook is the host of this edition of Weekend Herb Blogging and off I went to the market………

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I was at the Farmer’s Market again this week, doing a mid-month shop to see what I could dry, make into jam, preserves or somehow put into bottles. I love the market a lot. It is quite new in Adelaide – we are such a slow town – and of course there is only one and that is why we can refer to it as the Farmer’s Market. It is very popular, and characterised by long queues at the more popular stalls. I found some home grown cherry tomatoes for next to nothing, so bought a smallish bag. Yum, some oven roasted tomatoes for me, I thought.The next morning, into the oven they went. Out of the oven they came. Into the mouth of my Office Assistant they went. Into the mouth of my friend they went. A couple here, a couple there. Next I looked, there was hardly enough left for a small bowl of pasta. Sigh.

Drying or Roasting Tomatoes in the Oven

This is quite an easy dish to bake. It just takes time – a very slow oven and a few hours to spare. The results are very yummy. The drying of the tomatoes intensifies their flavour, and you end up with a burst of ruby red goodness in your mouth. Intense.

The time it takes to cook depends on the size of the tomato – obviously bigger tomatoes take longer to cook. It also depends on the stage at which you want to stop the baking.

Sometimes I leave them still quite “wet” – a little cooked, not very dry. This takes about 1 – 1.5 hours.

Sometimes I like them half dried. This takes about 2 hours for cherry tomatoes.

And sometimes I like them quite dry, like plump dried apricots. This takes 2.5 – 3 hours for cherry tomatoes and longer for larger fruit.

Sumac

Sumac is a Middle Eastern spice – quite tart and quite yummy. It is black in colour. Fresh and tangy, it comes from the berries of a wild bush that grows wild in all Mediterranean areas, especially in Sicily and southern Italy, and parts of the Middle East, especially Iran. It is an essential ingredient in Arabic cooking, being preferred to lemon for sourness and astringency.

You only need a little and it is fabulous with tomatoes and avocados. It can also be mixed with yoghurt and fresh herbs and served as a dipping sauce or side dish. It is good dusted over feta cheese or added to a salad. Stir it through olive oil and serve with crusty bread.

You can read more about sumac here.

For this recipe, if you can’t find sumac, then I suggest a small amount of finely grated lemon instead. But you can also leave it out – the result is different but still very very yummy.

Using Dried Tomatoes

** Throw them in everything – pasta dishes, salads, antipasto, ….

** In pies and tarts.

** Pair them with caramelised onions.

** Eat on their own. Snack on them. Put them in the lunch box.

** Cover the dried ones with oil and keep in the fridge. When the tomatoes are gone, use the tomato flavoured oil in salad dressings.

However, I dare you to have them last more than a day!

Before the tomatoes go into the oven

In the oven – about 1 hour into the cooking time

After 2 – 2.5 hours cooking and ready to eat.

Oven Dried Tomatoes

Source: Adapted from the SBS originally. From the old Food Matters site.
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 2 – 4 hours

ingredients
cherry tomatoes or smaller round or oval tomatoes
Sea salt, Celtic if you can get it
Freshly ground black pepper
Sumac – a Middle Eastern Spice available from providores and sometimes Asian/Indian shops
sugar

optional extras
rosemary
garlic, diced really fine
a bay leaf or two
a very small drizzle of really good virgin olive oil
a small amount of very finely grated lemon peel, if not using Sumac

method
Split the tomatoes lengthwise and place skin side down in a single layer on a baking slide lined with baking paper, or in a low sided dish.

Evenly scatter the sumac, salt, pepper and sugar over the cut surfaces. Adjust the amount of sugar according to the tartness of the tomatoes. In late summer, early autumn, tomatoes are at their best so will need less sugar. Early in the season they will need more.

Add any optional extras, sprinkling over the surface.

Place in a low (100 – 120C) oven for two to four hours until the tomatoes have dried a little and have lightly caramelised. They should look like very plump dried apricots. Cool, cover and refrigerate until needed.

Play. Enjoy. Eat.

People are Saying

• Bored Laura was reading this while eating lunch at work, and says

It’s a cruel and unusual masochist who reads about and lusts over figs with chili chocolate, fava bean and goats cheese pasta and tiny little roasted cherry tomatoes while stuck at their desk having a lunch of lumpy leek and potato cup-a-soup and choccy mini eggs [yes, at the same time, what?!].

• What Smells So Good grows her own tomatoes and is looking for a recipe that will dry the tomatoes without having to store in oil.

I haven’t quite decided how I’ll do it, since there are a few different recipes out there, but I’m looking for one that allows me to store them in the cupboard, not in oil, and grab them when I need. There’s a good tutorial-style recipe on VegeYum that I found, so I’ll probably use it as a guide.

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