How nice it is to open a jar of sun-dried tomatoes made with your own hands in winter! It is an ideal component for many salads, for sandwiches, canapes, all kinds of snacks, as a pizza topping. Actually, it's very simple! Today I will show you how easy it is to make delicious homemade sun-dried tomatoes.
Wash the tomatoes, pat dry with a towel, cut in half and place the halves cut side down on paper towels lined in 2 layers. Wait at least half an hour for the excess juice and moisture to soak into the towels.
Prepare a dryer for vegetables. Lay the tomatoes cut side up on the shelves of the dryer, sprinkle with a mixture of herbs. So lay out all the tomatoes.
Put the tomatoes to dry at 70 degrees for the first 12-14 hours, periodically changing the shelves in the dryer. After about 14 hours, turn the temperature to 50 degrees and dry for about 8 more hours. As a result, you should get not dry and not half-cooked slices, namely withered ones - soft in the middle and with dry, crumpled edges.
When the tomatoes are almost ready, we begin to prepare the jars, peel the garlic and cook the oil. I sterilize the jars in the oven at 100 degrees for 20 minutes, but it can also be done in the traditional way.
Peel the garlic cloves, if large, cut in half. Place some of the oil in a saucepan and bring to a boil. At the bottom of a hot jar we put garlic, herbs, basil, part of the tomatoes. So we alternate the layers until the jar is completely filled. Next, fill the jar by about 3/4 with ordinary oil and the remaining 1/4 with boiling. Close the lid tightly. Keep refrigerated.