Semi Dried Tomatoes with Pomegranate: A recipe

Recently I bought some pomegranate molasses. It was with a sense of frustration with Australian pomegranates – lovely red colours, awfully bitter tastes. Having tasted in India what real pomegranate is supposed to taste like, I finally resorted to bottled pomegranate after a suggestion from Seena and bee.

That is no small step for me. I don’t keep a lot of store-bought tinned or jar’ed substances in my kitchen. Some. Not many. Bottles, well I have more than I am comfortable with, but most Asian flavourings come that way – soy, rice wine, hoisin, black vinegar, red vinegar, plum vinegar, sweet chilli sauce. Then of course there are oils. Walnut, grapeseed, olive (several), coconut. Vinegars: balsamic, strawberry, sherry. Rosewater. Kewra. And now pomegranate molasses AND pomegranate syrup. I didn’t know the difference so I bought both, from different shops. They taste pretty much the same.

So much for simplicity in the bottle department.

I cook less and less Chinese-influenced dishes these days so will try to reduce, but I make no promises.

The weather here is what we call an Indian Summer – bright clear days for the past two weeks, hovering around 20C. Nights not too cold. Pleasant, pleasant, peaceful, calming weather that does not demand anything of you except to be there and enjoy. To be aware of it and to watch the light play among the shadows. To soak up the gloriousness of nature before it goes back into itself as and when the winter comes.

I am so so very blessed to have the weather perfectly suited to my introspective holiday. Perfect for rediscovery. Perfect for re-prioritising. Perfect for reconnecting.

So in an Indian Summer sort of mood, I made some dried tomatoes with my pomegranate molasses / syrup, and ate them with thick thick yoghurt, my new favourite food.  Usually I make dried tomatoes with sumac, but this weather deserves a new approach. Drying them concentrates the sugars, and this makes them a perfect foil for pomegranate.

Semi Dried Tomatoes with Pomegranate

Source : inspired by Turquoise, A Chef’s Travels in Turkey
Cuisine: Turkish
Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 5 hours or more
Makes:500g, or double the recipe for a kilo of dried tomatoes

ingredients
1kg small roma or vine-ripened tomatoes
50ml olive oil
1 Tblspn pomegranate molasses
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

method
Set the oven to 50C.

Cut the tomatoes in half, either across the fruit or lengthwise. Place them in a shallow baking dish.

Whisk the oils and pomegranate molasses together and lightly brush each tomato with the mixture. Sprinkle each tomato with pepper and salt.

Place in the oven and bake for 5 hours or more, until the tomatoes have shrunk and shrivelled. Remove from the oven and cool.

The tomatoes will last 10 – 14 days if kept covered in the fridge.

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Tomato Series

• Bruschetta al Pomodoro
• Chana Chat with Chat Masala
• Ginger Garlic Lentil Soup
• Go Spanish – Tomato Paella
• Plump Ruby Bites - Oven Dried Tomatoes
• The Simplest Spaghetti
• Take a Tomato - Quick Tomato Soup
• Tomato Rasam for a SPICE Hit!
• Tomato Salad
• Simple approaches

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