"Sun" Dried Tomatoes

These are sooooo good, added to pasta, pizza, mac and cheese, potatoes, meatloaf, all kinds of things, and they last a long time if you dry them right. Here in the Great North Western US we don't get enough sun to make them, so we improvise by using a warm oven.


Go to the store, choose two large, ripe tomatoes. you can also use roma or cherry tomatoes for this.
Remove stems and wash thoroughly.
Cut tomatoes in quarters and clean out the seeds and juice, trying to keep all the meat. Tomatoes have little pockets of seeds, just run your spoon handle through it.
Now, cut the tomatoes in more wedges, then cut each wedge carefully into 1/8 inch-wide strips.
Place them on an oiled (or sprayed) foil strip or baking sheet, making sure no two touch each other.
Sprinkle garlic powder and a TINY bit of salt over them.
Put them in a warm oven 250(f) degrees.
After one-half hour, check them.

You want them dry, but if the tomato was very meaty it could take more time. The resulting texture will feel soft, but not wet. About like the inside of a raisin or dried apricot.

You want to catch the tomatoes when dry and still red in color. These will turn brown or black quickly, which is okay (and how they come in the store), sometimes they turn color after they've been removed from the oven! I just like them to be mostly all red, still, and this takes a watchful eye. As soon as I begin checking them, I remove the ones that seem to be done, so only the still-wet ones remain on the pan. They will dry at different rates according to how much meat was on the tomato slice; the ones that are mostly skin get done first.

They should be all dried in an hour, give or take a few minutes. Then, simply add them to the recipe you wanted them for and enjoy!