Homemade sun-dried tomatoes (with salt or unsalted)

• Wash the tomatoes, remove the stem and finally cut them. If you are using plum tomatoes, cut them in half (lengthwise) and the rest into quarters. Remove the seeds (if you want, keep them to make tomato sauce).
• Put an oven tray on your counter and place a cleanoven rack on top. There place your tomatoes one by one with the flesh (the inner part) down, to drain the excess liquid. After 5 minutes, turn them upside down (with the inner part facing up) and salt them (you can avoid salt completely and make them unsalted, which turn out delicious as they have the aroma of garlic, thyme, oregano , bay leaf, pepper, olive oil, vinegar and of course from the tomato itself).
• Sun-dried tomatoes will be ready in two steps: drying and storage / preservation.
• Drying can be done either in the sun or in the oven.
• The drier and harder you want them to be, the more you let them dry. With less time (in the sun or in the oven), sun-dried tomatoes will retain some flesh, they will be softer and juicier and will give a feeling of freshness.

Dry your homemade sun-dried tomatoes under the sun or in the oven

Sun drying

• To dry them under the sun, you need to have strong sun all day, so the summer months are the perfect time.
• In this case put them in a place where there is sun all day and cover them with tulle that you will fasten to the rack with pegs. For example, if you have two balconies, one facing the sun in the morning and the other in the afternoon, you will change positions so that the sun sees them constantly.
• When the sun goes down put them inside the house so that they do not absorb moisture, unless it is very hot at night.
• Follow this procedure for a few days (3-7 depending on how dried you want them). It is important that the tomatoes do not retain any moisture so that they do not mold later on.

Oven drying

• Preheat the oven to 70°C/158°F and place the racks with the tomatoes for 5-6 hours or until dry as desired. Again, it is important that the tomatoes do not retain any moisture so that they do not mold later.

Sterilization of jars

• In order to preserve your homemade sun-dried tomatoes for a longer period of time, you need to store them in an airtight glass jar with a metal lid which you will first sterilize.
• Remove any labels from the jar and the lid (soaking them in hot water) and then wash them well. Then sterilize them in one of the following ways, putting them:

  1. In the oven at 100°C/212°F (in fan mode) for 20 minutes. Make sure they are dry before putting them in the oven.
  2. In a pot (in boiling water) for 15 minutes. Make sure they are completely covered with water.
  3. In a dishwasher, where you simply wash them at high temperature.
  4. In the microwave for one minute (pay attention to the oven instructions on what materials you can put in safely). Make sure they are dry before putting them in the oven. If in doubt, it is safer to sterilize the lid in boiling water (for 15 minutes).
• In all the above cases, pay attention to materials that are not glass. For example, if the lid has rubber or is plastic, it can melt or deteriorate, if it is metal, it should not be placed in the microwave and so on.
• Once they are sterilized, grab them with tongs, so you don't get burnt, and put them with the opening facing down on a clean towel.
• In case you sterilize them by boiling, leave them to dry completely before filling them.

Storage / Maintenance

• Fill your jar with the sun-dried tomatoes, adding all the other ingredients. Ideally, every few tomatoes you add, add a few of the other ingredients (garlic, thyme or oregano, pepper and bay leaf). Finally, add the balsamic vinegar to your jar and then the olive oil until it is full (if possible try not to leave air in). You achieve this by pressing the lid in the center while you fasten it.
• They can be consumed immediately, but the longer they stay in the jar, the more the flavors come together, the tomatoes absorb the aromas and they become tastier. If you have patience, in a week they will be perfect!
• Keep them in a closed jar, in a cupboard or other shady place (if you salt them) or in the fridge if you make them unsalted. Make sure the sun-dried tomatoes are completely covered by the olive oil.

Serving

• Serve them plain as an appetizer. It's a great snack along with beer, tsipouro or ouzo. Alternatively, use them in various vegan recipes to give aroma and wonderful flavor. As we do in our various vegan recipes, such as our vegan cheese with cashews and sun-dried tomatoes, vegan mushroom no-meat balls, Greek green beans with sun-dried tomatoes, Greek arakas (peas) with sun-dried tomatoes and peppers, large lima beans (gigantes) and aromatic vegan lentil soup.