Other than being around my family, there is really only one other reason that I miss Western Australia… the glorious weather. Growing up in WA, I didn’t realise that the weather around Australia wasn’t equally as gorgeous. Perhaps, if I had realised this, it is likely I would never have left.
A Perth summer is spectacular, sure it gets hot, but find some shade and its great. It’s consistent – it will be consistently gorgeous for weeks. I hesitate to say it is a dry heat… but it is. Scotty and I often have arguments about the whole “dry heat” thing because the last time he was in Perth it hit 43 degrees Celsius and at that temperature dry heat or not, its bloody unbearable.
The first year I was in Sydney, I was beside myself with heat intolerance in as little as 30 degree heat and I couldn’t understand why I felt so hot! It is that damn Sydney humidity you see. And then, it rained… in Summer! I was incredulous. I thought that perhaps it was just unseasonal, but then it happened every year in Summer and I realised what I had gotten myself into.
But what does this have to do with semi-dried tomatoes?
In January/February at the height of Perth summer each year, the Italian tomato season kicks off and Roma’s are at their all time sweetness. At this time, all Italian families prepare to receive their cases of gorgeous blush red tomatoes for sauce day. For my mother, this is the moment to conjure up her seemingly unending supply of baking trays to lay a plethora of halved Roma tomatoes onto to lay out in the gorgeous Perth sun for a few days until they have shrivelled into gorgeous blood red pieces ready for a stint in olive oil, garlic and basil to be enjoyed as antipasto.
My mother never bought sun dried tomatoes. Why would you when its so easy to make them yourself – and much cheaper.
As a buyer of sun-dried tomatoes, I was recently overcome by a sense of nostalgia seeing some gorgeous Roma’s as my fruit market recently, and I knew I had to take them home and dry them. Firstly, I’m impatient, so there was no way that I was going to wait 3 days to have them, and secondly, Sydney weather just isn’t consistent enough for it to even work.
So, that is where my trusty oven came in. If you can’t sun dry them, the next best thing is to oven dry. And the best thing about it? all you need are fresh Roma tomatoes, a brush of olive oil and a bit of time to let them dry – a lot less time than 3 days.
Below you will find my method for the perfect semi-dried tomatoes.
Semi-Dried Tomatoes
Ingredients
- Roma tomatoes
- Olive oil
Directions
Preheat your oven to a very low temperature (make sure it is below 100° Celsius - I have a "keep warm" setting and I use that).
Cut your roma tomatoes in half lengthways and remove the core of each tomato. Then lay them on lined baking trays cut side up and in one layer. Brush the top of each lightly with olive oil.
Place the trays in the oven and let dry for 3-4 hours till semi-soft to the touch. The smaller tomatoes will be ready more quickly than the others so just remove the halves from the oven when they are done and leave the rest to continue drying.
Once dry, you can eat by rubbing toasted italian bread with garlic and topping with semi-dried tomatoes, or place in a jar tightly packed and cover with olive oil adding a couple of cloves of garlic and a few basil leaves, keeping it in the fridge and eating as you please.
I HATE Sydney in the summer – the heat, the humidity, the rain that makes everything hotter and stickier… But I love these toms 🙂 What a wonderful thing to add to home-made pizza.
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I’d take dry heat any day over a muggy mess. These tomatoes are just gorgeous, I love the idea of popping in a little garlic, basil and olive oil.
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Love sun dried tomatoes as antipasto! These semi-dried delights look perfect, and love the idea of cooking them so quickly in the oven. i can see that these would taste just amazing! thanks for the inspiration. 🙂
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I occasionally make these at home, as well. In fact, the other half knocked up a tray last weekend to toss through salads. A bit of salt, oregano, oil and you’re laughin’.
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Seriously…it is that easy? I never really thought to make these. And home grown tomatoes are the best too!
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Dry heat is much better than muggy heat, but heat is heat — both are hot. IMO. 😉 Lovely post — thanks.
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I didn’t realize you were from Pertg Amanda. I have only been once and that was for Eat Drink Blog, and loved it. Love your recipe too it’s the best way to take care of all those beautiful summer tomatoes.
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OMG I didn’t realise how easy it is to make em! Love adding sun-dried tomatoes in my salads!
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Amanda once dried you can put them into zip lock plastic bags and freeze them rather than have them sitting in olive oil. When you are ready to eat them just take them out of the freezer leave to defrost takes only minutes and then dress with oil etc.
Hi Mum! haha. Thanks for letting me know… I actually have never frozen them.
Dear Amanda,
Just like many things, the weather is also relative.
I grew up in the muggy tropical heat of Malaysia so Sydney and Perth weather are glorious to me. And so are your oven-dried tomatoes.
I put most of my semi-dried tomatoes in olive oil and garlic. I use a dehydrator but the result is the same. I love them on appetiser tarts and in salads. All these other suggestions are great too.
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Sydney weather is as unpredictable as my mother (sorry mum!), so when i try drying out chinese sausages and fish it never works out, I love sun-dried tomatoes so im definitely trying this out!
Hello from a fellow Sydney based food blogger! I popped over after seeing a comment on my blog and this was smack in my face….HOW have I never tried this before? And it’s really that easy?? I just presumed it involved all sorts of fancy dehydration equipment and what not…..this is legendary! I’m signing up so I can stay in touch. Hope to see you around! Nagi (RecipeTin Eats)
I slow-roasted some toms the other day but I didn’t quite get them to this stage. The flavour intensity was incredible though! And such a great way to extending their shelf life too.
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Love your recipe for quick semi-dried tomatoes. I’m hoping for a mild Perth summer – we’ll see!
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Yah, I know, our humidity is a bitch. Love making semi dried tomatoes. I should get my act together and make a whole bunch during tomato season to preserve for later use.
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I have so many Roma tomatoes in my fridge at the moment and I didn’t even think of doing this! Thanks for the tip, I’ll be sure to try it out.
Hey guys, put some mixed herbs fresh or dried on top of the tomatoes, it tastes amazing.
So helpful thank you