how to use dried tomatoes

Tomatoes, dried to the state of dried fruits, have been known in the Russian country not so long ago. Due to their beneficial properties, they were used both raw and canned, and were also added to various dishes during frying. This effect was due to the rich and unique taste of the berries (according to botany), which revealed differently when consumed.

Tomatoes are also added to canned salads, made into paste and various types of sauce, and canned in their own juice. Due to the content of a substance such as lycopene, they can be consumed during weight loss, bringing undeniable benefits to the body.

Sun-dried tomatoes: what they eat with and where they are added

Who knows that you can cook more than just canned tomatoes? Dried, they are also wonderful; at the same time they acquire new notes to the familiar, classic taste. In order for the study of the dish to be large-scale and close to everyone, of course you need to see what the actual sun-dried tomatoes look like and what they eat with, where to add it.

Where do they add it and how do they eat it?

If sun-dried tomatoes, from a jar in oil, are already before your eyes, then the easiest way to use this snack is to grease bread with it, placing soft cheese on top. The result is an excellent, tasty and simple sandwich. After all, sun-dried tomatoes are just a snack, although they can be added to a variety of baked goods, fried, and if chopped finely, they can easily be added to fluffy bread dough at the time of kneading. Some come up with new fillings for pies or pasties with it.

Italians often eat sun-dried tomatoes without bothering, like a component of pizza. The history of the popular dish itself is interesting, because initially pizza was considered only the food of the poor, when thin, lean dough was kneaded from the last flour, and on top they collected everything that they could find, assembled at home from edibles. Leftover ham, omelette, pieces of vegetables. The assembled still life was topped with cheese, then the pizza was baked.

Centuries later, she has become an honorary representative of the beautiful, varied Italian cuisine. There are many varieties of pizza, so it is not surprising that sun-dried tomato is found among the toppings. Sometimes tomatoes are thrown directly into the paste, and the finished paste acquires unique flavor notes.

Dozens, even hundreds of recipes for salads, where sun-dried tomatoes are an active, sometimes the main component. Even spicy oil from them is used. For example, it is often used to make dressing. Sun-dried tomatoes also go well with main and hot dishes: meat or fish, chicken, and cutlets. You don’t have to be an experienced, seasoned cook, because the recipes can be simple. Even haute cuisine, traditional for expensive, famous restaurants, is often simple and ingenious. Where to add existing sun-dried tomatoes?

Pasta, plus sun-dried tomatoes

First, boil the pasta itself. Experienced chefs advise keeping the pasta for no more than 7-10 minutes, pouring it into already boiling water. They may be slightly undercooked and hard, but the shape is clearly visible and the taste is special.

Next, chop the tomatoes (dried), and with them chop the greens into smaller pieces, which must first be washed and then slowly dried with a towel.

First pour the boiled pasta into a colander to drain all the unnecessary liquid, then add the already chopped tomatoes, followed by the greens. Mix thoroughly, everything is ready to serve. A quick, tasty, even spicy dish. Grated Parmesan can either be added to the pasta and mixed, or sprinkled on top of the dish that is ready to be served.

Salad appetizer, original: sun-dried tomatoes, chicken

• Tomatoes, (dried) (200 g); • Chicken fillet, already boiled and cooled (450 g); • Soft cheese, maybe feta cheese (200 g); • Arugula salad or any greens; • Olives, pitted only (100 g); • Olive oil; • Lemon juice (fresh); • Black pepper; • Salt.

Cut the already boiled chicken breast into medium, equal cubes, or into strips if desired.

Finely chop all the sun-dried tomatoes, then chop all the olives into rings, and chop the cheese into medium cubes. We then combine all the components in a large, convenient bowl, arugula (any greens, also chopped) goes there, season everything with spices (olive oil, lemon juice at the same time, then salt, pepper).

You can drip a little of the spicy oil, in fact, in which the sun-dried tomatoes were located, and at the same time improve the taste.

Hot sandwiches

An excellent breakfast or lunch snack, a portable and hot, quick dish.

• Tomatoes (dried) (120 g); • Fresh tomatoes (550 g); • Baguette, maybe a white loaf (piece); • Garlic (3 individual cloves); • Olive oil (50 ml); • Balsamic vinegar (20 ml); • Basil, as fresh herbs (2-3 branches); • Mozzarella cheese (other is possible); • Salt.

First, chop all the tomatoes (dried, then fresh), then chop the basil and garlic into smaller pieces. Now, all the ingredients need to be thoroughly mixed in a convenient, large bowl.

Add oil, then balsamic vinegar and spices. Leave the resulting mixture to sit quietly for a few minutes. In the meantime, cut the baguette into equal slices, then dry them through the upper grill or toaster.

Lubricate all the slices with the filling, and sprinkle each with grated cheese on top. Hot sandwiches can be heated either in a regular microwave or left for 2-3 minutes in an already preheated oven, the main thing is to watch until the cheese on top melts. Eat hot, right away.

Sun-dried tomatoes

Of course, you can easily buy them ready-made in stores, but why not master making them at home? At the same time, you will be sure that the product is fresh, there is nothing superfluous. No preservatives or stabilizers.

• Tomatoes (as many as you want, calculate the quantity in advance); • Salt; • Special paper for baking (ordinary paper will also work, the main thing is without inscriptions or drawings); • Baking trays, also trays with planks, sieves - everything that is needed later for laying out the finished tomatoes.

Yes, there is no oil here, these will be dried tomatoes, not soaked in oil. First, the vegetables need to be washed, then each one is divided evenly in half.

Finger lickin' good: TOP 10 secrets for making sun-dried tomatoes

Sun-dried tomatoes are becoming increasingly popular among Belarusians.

Canned and pickled tomatoes are no longer as interesting to modern housewives as they were to their mothers and grandmothers. What is the secret of sun-dried tomatoes and how can you prepare them?

How to cook sun-dried tomatoes?

To prepare them you will need a lot of tomatoes, seasonings, an oven and a lot of time.

The tomatoes are washed, dried, cut into halves and the stems are removed.

Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with foil or parchment paper and place the tomatoes on top, cut side up. The next step is the most valuable in terms of final taste. Tomatoes are sprinkled with pepper, salt, sugar, and dry herbs. Top the vegetables with a little olive oil and sprinkle with finely chopped garlic.

Next, the tomatoes prepared in this way should be baked at a temperature of 80-150 degrees for at least 3-3.5 hours.

While still hot, the tomatoes should be placed tightly in prepared jars and filled with the aromatic oil remaining on the baking sheet. After compacting the tomatoes and closing the jar, you can put it in a warm oven for another 30 minutes for additional sterilization.

Flavor options: Herbs de Provence, bay leaf and cloves

In fact, you can “season” sun-dried tomatoes with almost any herbs and seasonings you like. Only salt, and perhaps a few pinches of sugar, are required ingredients, as they act as a preservative.

Basil, rosemary, allspice, bay leaf, cloves, and oregano are perfect for sun-dried tomatoes.

Perfect beauty and maximum effect

To achieve deeper flavor and consistent tomato pieces that look perfect in jars, you can core the tomatoes before cooking. This is also done in cases where the tomatoes are slightly different in size and their cooking time may vary.

Additional drying time will also help achieve a better effect. After 2.5-3 hours of cooking at a temperature of 150 degrees, you can lower the temperature to 100 and cook for another 1.5-2 hours.

To let the humid air escape...

For a better drying effect, you should also turn on the convection mode in the oven. Some housewives who have tried various methods of preparing sun-dried tomatoes have come up with another trick. They leave the oven door slightly ajar while inserting a wooden spatula soaked in cold water. This ensures that moist air escapes from the oven where the tomatoes are cooked.

Which tomatoes are better?

Ideal for making sun-dried tomatoes are plum tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and any type of small, fleshy tomatoes. If you use more watery varieties of tomatoes, then, most likely, the moisture in them will evaporate, and you will only have to feast on the skin.

As a result of cooking, tomatoes will greatly decrease in size, but they cannot be completely deprived of moisture. They should remain slightly moist and not become completely dry and brittle.

By the way, if you don’t like tomatoes, you can get baked tomatoes instead of sun-dried ones. They will become like this after 1.5-2 hours of cooking.

Hot or cold?

In the basic recipe that we gave above, it is recommended to place still hot tomatoes in jars. However, this option for preparing sun-dried tomatoes is not the only one. According to some recipes, the tomatoes should first be cooled and then transferred to prepared jars, pouring the layers with oil and “flavoring” with herbs.

With electric dryer and freezer

In addition to the oven, you can cook sun-dried tomatoes using the same principle in an electric dryer at a temperature of 60-100 degrees. You can just as easily use a microwave.

And you can store sun-dried tomatoes not only in jars, but also... in the freezer. After cooling the tomatoes after cooking in the dryer or oven, you can put them in a bag or container and put them in the freezer.

Where to store tomatoes?

Sun-dried tomatoes in the oven - recipe

We will begin preparing this recipe, as usual, by preparing the necessary ingredients. To do this, we choose spices: salt and pepper (it’s better to grind them together in a mortar), and herbs for our aromatic oil. Wash the cooked tomatoes (it is better to use cherry tomatoes) and let them dry.

We cut the prepared tomatoes into two halves (if the tomatoes are large, then cut them into quarters) and remove the seeds from them using a teaspoon. If the tomatoes are too juicy, you can blot them with a paper towel.

The baking tray should be lined with baking paper, but we will place our tomato slices on it. When the tomatoes are in place, sprinkle them evenly with a mixture of salt and pepper prepared in advance. You need to add a couple of drops of olive oil to each tomato, or you can use a pastry brush.

We will dry the tomatoes in the oven at a temperature of +70-90 C degrees, for 5-7 hours - the cooking time depends on the size of the slices. It is very important not to overdry the tomatoes; they should still remain a little moist and not “fragile”.

You need to fill the container in which you will store the tomatoes in layers. First of all, pour olive oil into the bottom of a small, clean, dry glass jar and add a small amount of fresh rosemary and a clove of garlic, cut into several pieces. Now we transfer some of the tomatoes into the jar and again - oil, herbs and garlic.

As a result, the tomatoes should be completely covered with olive (or sunflower) oil, so they will not spoil. We store all this beauty in the refrigerator and enjoy it for up to six months, unless, of course, we eat it within a week) Bon appetit.

Ingredients for making sun-dried tomatoes in the oven:

tomatoes – 1 kilogram;
olive oil – 200-250 milliliters;
fresh rosemary or thyme - 1 sprig;
garlic – 2-3 cloves;
coarse salt - to taste;
pepper or a mixture of peppers - to taste.

In this recipe, tomatoes are seeded. No vinegar is used at all. Tomatoes can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Dried tomatoes: benefits and harms, recipes for cooking at home, storage rules

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Today, tomatoes are one of the most widespread vegetables in the world - more than 70 tons of tomatoes are produced annually. Such popularity of the vegetable in almost all cuisines of European and Mediterranean countries has led to the emergence of a huge number of ways to prepare it, one of which is drying. Sun-dried tomatoes, despite their very recent appearance, have already managed to conquer gourmets and have established themselves as a high-quality product that is successfully integrated into cooking. Our article suggests familiarizing yourself with the basic properties of dried tomatoes, their benefits and harms, as well as cooking methods.

Useful and medicinal properties of sun-dried tomatoes

The question of how sun-dried tomatoes are useful for people has long been of interest to scientists. After all, the fruits after processing do not have a very presentable appearance. It turned out that after processing they had an excellent taste: spicy, slightly sweet, with a thick, rich aroma of just picked fruit. It has been proven that in addition to the smell, they retain their nutritional properties and have a number of qualities beneficial to the human body.

Sun-dried tomatoes, the benefits of which are invaluable to the human body, are as follows:

have low calorie content;

provide the human body with necessary vitamins and microelements;

contain serotonin, which has an effect on a person’s overall well-being, improving his mood and causing him to fall asleep faster.

In order to get the maximum benefit from sun-dried tomato, you need to follow some rules:

for harvesting, you should take whole and dense fruits of bright red color without dents or damage;

Before drying, each fruit should be thoroughly washed, making sure to tear off the tail;

cut the tomato with a sharp knife, avoiding the appearance of dents and smudges.

Medicinal properties of tomatoes

Sun-dried tomatoes, their harm and benefits to the human body, were studied in many laboratories around the world before moving on to their industrial production. Sun-dried tomatoes are an indispensable food product for people who are undergoing rehabilitation after a serious long-term illness. They help to quickly overcome vitamin deficiency, increase the body’s protective functions, and defeat anemia.

In addition, eating dried tomatoes contributes to:

improving the functioning of the digestive organs, preventing constipation;

the substance lycopene contained in their composition acts as a powerful natural antioxidant in the human body, slowing down the aging process and acting as an antitumor agent, and its presence in sun-dried tomatoes is higher and this substance is absorbed faster;

dissolution of harmful cholesterol by polyunsaturated acids, thereby preventing the appearance of diseases such as atherosclerosis, improving the functioning of blood vessels and the cardiac system;

strengthening human memory and visual functions;

rapid absorption of useful substances such as iron, copper, manganese, phosphorus, potassium;

preventing the appearance of kidney stones and salt deposition in large joints, protecting bone mass from destruction and strengthening tooth enamel, nails and hair;

enhancing diuretic and choleretic processes, which helps lower blood pressure.

Using dried tomatoes as food, the benefits for human life are undeniable. Eating sun-dried tomatoes not only improves the quality of life, but also prolongs it, which is important.

Nutritional value of tomatoes

The calorie content of dried fruits is low and amounts to only 250 calories per 100 g of product. They contain:

carbohydrates - 55.8 g;

fat – 3 g;

proteins – 14.1 g;

ash – 12.6 g;

water – 14.56 g;

dietary fiber – 12.3 g.

The value of this product is emphasized by the fact that 100 g of the product contains such useful substances as Omega-3 in the amount of 0.011 g and Omega-6 - 1.104 g, Omega-9, and other fatty acids.

Benefits for the digestive system

Dietary fiber or coarse fiber contained in dried vegetables stimulates the motility of the digestive system. Thanks to the beneficial combination of water and fiber in the product, the body is cleansed of toxic substances.

The benefits and harms of sun-dried cherry tomatoes

Little immigrants from the Mediterranean have proven to be very beneficial for human health. Their advantage also lies in year-round availability.

The high content of chromium and fiber helps to quickly saturate the body. Those people who regularly eat cherry tomatoes are more active and energetic.

If the nutritional value of ordinary tomatoes decreases in winter, then small cherry tomatoes remain unchanged in their quality and quickly eliminate the lack of minerals and vitamins in the body weakened by the cold.

In addition, they remove excess fluid from the body, have an antioxidant effect, strengthening the walls of blood vessels, the skeletal system and prevent the occurrence of tumor diseases. The low calorie content of the product allows it to be used daily in dietary nutrition.

However, despite their usefulness, there are cases when cherry tomatoes are prohibited for consumption:

disruption of metabolic processes in the body;

allergies and individual intolerance to the substances included in its composition;

cholelithiasis.

Properties of dried tomatoes

The appearance of dried tomatoes is not very impressive, but this does not affect their taste at all, and in terms of the amount of nutritional content, sun-dried tomatoes are in no way inferior to canned or fresh ones.

Their rich spicy taste and aroma, as well as versatility of use, will delight lovers of delicacies all year long, provided the correct cooking technique is followed. Let's take a closer look at the beneficial properties and disadvantages of this method of preparing vegetables.

Benefit

Sun-dried tomatoes can enrich our body with a whole list of useful nutritional components due to the fact that they do not spoil, which means they store all the vitamin and mineral elements a person needs for a long time.

Like any product, sun-dried tomatoes have certain contraindications, and the dried vegetable can only cause harm if you overeat, as it contains a high level of oxalic acid, which has a destructive effect on the liver.

Harm

The harm of berries dried to miniature size may include the following aspects:

Oxalic acid contained in tomatoes is harmful to people with osteoporosis or arthritis. It tends to accumulate in the body , so eating tomatoes can be dangerous.
Since tomatoes have a choleretic effect , a large amount of them, when consumed, causes the movement of stones in the gall bladder.
The presence of kidney disease or urinary tract disease, hypertension or thrush prevents you from trying sun-dried tomatoes, as they are full of salt and spices, which act as irritants for pathogenic microorganisms.
Eating tomatoes with an unbalanced diet is dangerous. One model died after consuming raw tomatoes because the body did not have enough calories to meet the daily minimum required to support the body's vital functions. Despite the fact that dried berries have a high calorie content, consuming them as a replacement for main meals puts the body in a starvation situation.
You should not eat dried tomatoes uncontrollably . The high caloric content of the product with low movement of the object, when added to the main diet, increases the daily calorie intake by 300-500 kk.

How to select and prepare tomatoes for drying

Small, fleshy tomatoes grown in the sun rather than in a greenhouse are ideal for drying, as they have a more pronounced flavor. Most often, when choosing tomatoes for drying, one leans towards red plum-shaped varieties with an intact surface, always ripe and free of spots, based on the considerations that such tomatoes have much less juice and seeds, therefore, the drying process will be faster and more productive.

List of the best varieties of tomatoes for drying:

Preparing tomatoes for drying consists of several stages:

How to dry tomatoes at home

Of course, in all supermarkets you can find ready-packaged sun-dried tomatoes, but it is cheaper and much easier to dry tomatoes at home. The process of drying tomatoes will not take you much time and effort, and the result will please you for a long time. We invite you to find out in what ways you can prepare the described vegetable crop, as well as study several simple and interesting recipes.

In the oven

The fastest and easiest way to obtain dried tomatoes is to cook them in the oven.

The following ingredients are used:

The cooking process is simple:

Video: dried tomatoes in the oven

Dried tomatoes cooked in the oven are ideal for wrapping up for the winter, but you can eat them right away, using them as a snack for various dishes.

Source

How to dry tomatoes at home

Housewives will find several simple ways. You can try each method and choose the best one. If you have a dehydrator, the process practically does not require the participation of the housewife, and there is no heat in the apartment from the oven being turned on. Residents of private farms and upper floors, if there is no shade from tall trees nearby, can dry tomatoes in the sun: in the yard or on the balcony.

Electric dryer

How to dry tomatoes in an electric dryer? Procedure:

Sort the tomatoes, prepare according to the recommendations, cut into pieces of medium thickness;
place the nutritious product in one layer on trays, sprinkle with thyme, basil, and black pepper for aroma and pleasant taste;
You can place basil on one tray: the greens will dry out much earlier than the tomatoes, you need to take this point into account;
set the temperature to no more than 80 C, preferably lower, and start the drying process;
periodically you need to rearrange the trays with tomatoes to ensure uniform drying of juicy raw materials;
most models of electric dryers have a timer and a sound signal about the readiness of food;
During the drying process, it is important to ensure that the tomatoes do not become too hard. Preventing this drawback is quite simple: cut ripe vegetables into medium pieces. By placing thin plates of natural raw materials in an electric dryer, you can get vegetable chips, but this method is not suitable for tomatoes;
how to check drying quality? Ready tomatoes do not break when pressed;
put the workpiece for storage in cardboard boxes or containers from which air can be pumped out and placed in the freezer or refrigerator;
The duration of the drying process depends on many factors, it takes about a day, sometimes more. The dehydrator operates almost silently and does not consume a very large amount of electricity. The process of drying tomatoes does not cause trouble for the housewife and household members.

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Sun

The process takes longer than using an electric household appliance, but the quality of the finished product is no worse. Some of the vitamins are lost, but if the rules are followed, you get healthy and tasty raw materials for pizza, borscht, casseroles, and sauces. Housewives in a private courtyard and those with balconies on the sunny side can experiment and prepare a couple of kilograms of tomatoes for the winter in an original way.

How to proceed:

Place not very thick tomato slices on plastic racks or wooden boards. You should not use a metal base;
sprinkle the chopped tomatoes with coarse salt, be sure to cover with gauze to protect against flies, mosquitoes, bugs, and harmful insects;
Place trays with tomatoes in the sun. Turn the natural raw materials three to four times throughout the day;
In the evening, be sure to bring the tomatoes into your apartment or house: at night, moisture may be absorbed into the pulp, which will disrupt the drying process;
In the morning, take the tomato slices out into the sun again. Depending on the variety, thickness of the pieces, air temperature, the process of drying tomatoes in the sun lasts from 5 to 10 days. Before you start harvesting, you need to check the forecast for the next ten days so as not to encounter rain and cool weather;
It is important to check that almost all the liquid has evaporated from the tomatoes, otherwise the natural raw materials may become moldy.

Oven

Tomato chips can be prepared at a temperature of about 80 C: this mode does not allow ripe, juicy raw materials to dry out and burn. You need to set up in advance that the drying process in the oven lasts about 15 hours. From time to time you need to check the natural raw materials and turn the slices over. It is important to ensure that the tomato pieces do not break due to excessive dryness.

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Baking trays with chopped tomatoes are placed in the oven, preheated to 80 degrees. You should not place too many tomatoes on one sheet: you need to carefully arrange the natural raw materials so that each slice does not touch the neighboring one.

More than a snack: how to use dried tomatoes

How to cook dried tomatoes

Who doesn't like to open a jar of fruit or vegetable preparations in the middle of winter and feel the taste of summer again? But sun-dried tomatoes are not one of the most common preparations in our country. This new trend came from Italian cuisine, which means it’s worth looking there for the answer to the question of how to use dried tomatoes in our usual dishes.

Like other dried vegetables, sun-dried tomatoes are first cut and then dried for a long time. Next, they need to be poured with hot olive oil with seasonings and sealed in jars. Among the spices suitable for this canned food are Italian herbs (basil, oregano), garlic and peperoncino. Seasonings such as thyme (thyme), bay leaf, fennel and baked garlic will perfectly complement the bouquet. Dried tomatoes can be stored in oil for up to several months.

How to use dried tomatoes? As soon as your imagination dictates!

What to combine with

The first thing you eat dried tomatoes with is wine. This is a delicious snack. In Italy, it is also a traditional addition to pasta, pizza, omelettes, and pesto sauce (together with Parmesan and Italian herbs). Dried tomatoes perfectly complement poultry (giving it a unique taste and preserving the softness of the meat) and serve as a pleasant accent in dishes with eggplant and zucchini.

In tomato sauce, sun-dried tomatoes can be substituted for fresh ones. They will be a good alternative to fresh vegetables in winter meat dishes, stews, and soups. To add to gravies and seasonings, dried tomatoes should be ground in a blender.

However, you can store this preparation in an even more original way: put a basil leaf and a piece of unripe cheese inside each tomato, and pour oil over the mixture.

How to Use Dried Tomatoes in Recipes

Vegetable seasoning

Grind all seasoning ingredients in a blender (alternatives include a coffee grinder or food processor). Store chopped vegetables and herbs in a well-sealed jar in a dark place to maintain the bright color of the mixture.

Delicious sauces and seasonings are made from sun-dried tomatoes.

Vegetable seasoning with carrots

The mixture is suitable for soup, meat or vegetables.

Add dried tomatoes to the sauce

Grind all the vegetables and herbs with a food processor or coffee grinder, add oil in a glass jar and leave in a cool place for up to two weeks. The sauce is suitable for pasta, meat and other dishes.

What are the benefits of sun-dried tomatoes and how to prepare them at home?

The idea of drying tomatoes came to our region from Italy. It is there that tomatoes called Roma tomatoes, small, egg-shaped tomatoes, are happily heated in the sun to produce a richer flavor, reminiscent of that of ketchup. It's no wonder that cooking fans have come up with another idea for using tomatoes - not only easily accessible and tasty, but also very healthy.

The benefits of dried tomatoes

Tomatoes retain the maximum amount of valuable substances when processed in a dehydrator. An electric dryer allows you to delicately process tomatoes without destroying beneficial substances. Lycopene, ascorbic acid, fiber, iron, organic acids are not a complete list of useful substances in tomato pulp.

Sun drying is the second suitable option. Simmering ripe vegetables in the oven for 12 hours or more leads to the loss of a significant portion of vitamins and microelements. Regardless of the drying method, tomatoes are suitable for preparing various dishes, but the benefits to the body differ significantly.

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Why should you buy a vegetable and fruit dryer? In a dehydrator, food is dehydrated quite quickly and moisture evaporates. Temperature – no higher than 40 degrees. With this processing mode, dried tomatoes will not only be tasty, but also healthy, without lengthy heat treatment or the addition of preservatives.

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Inexpensive models of home dehydrators cost about 2,000 rubles. Service life – 5 years or more. In an electric dryer you can cook not only tomatoes, but also apples, raisins, mushrooms, cereal breads, and vegetable chips.

Dried tomatoes: health benefits

On a note. Dried tomatoes (just like, for example, avocado or nut butter) are full of nutrients, but at the same time high in calories: 100 g - 258 kcal. So if the goal is to consume fewer calories, you need fruits with less fat. If you choose a product in olive or other vegetable oil, then it is best to strain the tomatoes from it. However, it is important to remember that fat increases the bioavailability of lycopene, so at least a small amount is still needed.

How to cook dried tomatoes at home, on your own?

Dried sauté tomatoes are available (packaged, although in southern Europe you can buy them by weight) and in olive oil, sometimes with additives such as herbs, capers or cranberries. In any case, this is quite an expensive pleasure. Home-cooked tomatoes will be much cheaper, even if you add the cost of electricity to the price of the fruit, especially since you can dry 2 or 3 trays at a time.

So, how to make sun-dried tomatoes at home? For drying, choose fleshy varieties (for example, oblong, so-called pepper varieties), with the smallest seed chamber (it needs to be removed), and smaller in size, because they dry faster. The washed, dried and cut lengthwise fruits are placed closely on a baking sheet, skin side down. Sprinkle them with salt, a little sugar, optionally with Provençal herbs and sprinkle with olive oil. The baking sheet is placed in a fan-heated oven at 80°C and dried for 4-6 hours with the doors slightly open. The exact time depends on the variety and size of the tomatoes. They should not be dried too much: the edges should be wrinkled, but moderately elastic and flexible.

The finished dried fruits are placed in jars and filled with rapeseed or olive oil. If you are going to store them for longer than a few weeks, the oil needs to be hot. Before pouring it into a jar, you can season it with salt, basil or oregano, Provençal herbs or garlic, hot pepper, and balsamic vinegar. The delicacy prepared in this way at home is then added to salads, pasta, casseroles and even herring, but we’ll talk more about how to use sun-dried tomatoes a little later.

Thus, it is worth preparing dried tomatoes at home yourself, especially since this event, contrary to popular belief, does not take very much time, because the oven does all the “dirty work” for us.

How to dry tomatoes in the sun? If the summer is hot, you can try cooking sun-dried tomatoes. The fruit halves are laid out on paper in a sunny and ventilated place. Drying in thirty-degree heat will take about 4 days. At night, the future delicacy is taken home and covered.

Beneficial properties and harm of dried tomatoes

Proper drying allows you to preserve the valuable composition of tomatoes. These are vitamins of all groups, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, sulfur, iodine, iron and a dozen other minerals. Together they have a beneficial effect on the body and help cover the winter deficit.

Useful properties of dried tomatoes:

improve blood composition;
relieve constipation;
strengthen the heart muscle;
have a positive effect on vision;

reduce the risk of developing impotence;
help cope with iron deficiency anemia;
improve the functioning of the nervous system;
prevent the formation of blood clots.

How do you dry tomatoes?

In an electric dryerIn the oven

Dried tomatoes will cause harm if you have individual intolerance or the presence of gastrointestinal diseases in the acute stage. You should not use the product if you have intestinal upset, kidney problems, or urolithiasis. Tomatoes contain oxalic acid, so people with gout should not eat them in large quantities.

Dried homemade tomatoes bring great benefits to the body. The preparation is made in the oven, microwave, or electric dryer. Use for hot and cold dishes.

Dried tomatoes: benefits and harms depending on the filling. Which product is the healthiest?

Dried tomatoes are available in stores in various fillings. Which ones are healthy and which ones should you avoid?

Be careful about the salt content in dried tomatoes!

To deprive tomatoes of water, they are covered with salt. This is the main source of sodium in the daily diet, the daily dose of which should not exceed 5 g, for infants - 0.12 g, and in the case of children - 0.75 g. Meanwhile, 100 g of dried fruit contains 0.11 g of sodium, therefore, you should not add salt to dishes to which such tomatoes are added.

Dried tomatoes: culinary uses

So, you have homemade or store-bought sun-dried tomatoes at your disposal. What do they eat with, and where to add this delicacy? It can be bought dry, in bags or poured in a jar. Bag tomatoes have the most intense flavor and can be used in more ways. So, you can add them to vegetable salads and soups (for example, fish). They will add a nice variety to tomato sauce and spaghetti.

Dried tomatoes, removed from olive or other oil, work well served separately as a side dish. Strained sun-dried tomatoes can be used as a filling for hard-boiled eggs and as a component of the main lunch dish - fried chicken in mascarpone sauce, spinach casserole.

How else to use dried tomatoes? You can cook chicken breasts with them and sweet potatoes, use tomatoes as a complement to eggplant baked with cheese, cannelloni (Italian tube-shaped pasta) with spinach, or rabbit in sour cream. You can make toast with dried tomatoes - in both canned and bagged versions. It’s worth experimenting and adding these fruits to muffins with olives and feta cheese, beet pate or to salmon in French pastry.