Late summer is one of my favorite times of year, because I get to enjoy all of the fabulous, flavorful, fragrant heirloom tomatoes my Dad grows. His vines are prolific producers that bear an almost embarrassing amount of multi-colored tomato gems every August. The only minor downside is that he grows so damn many of them, it's imposssible to use them all up when they are at their peak.



One thing we have started doing regularly is drying some of the tomatoes for future enjoyment. My Dad is really into his new food dehydrator, which works great for fruit, but for tomatoes I like to oven-dry them and store them in oil- sort of like sun-dried tomatoes you buy in a jar. I say "sort of" because the taste of fresh, lusicious, verdant heirloom tomatoes that you oven-dry yourself is leaps and bounds better than a jarred version. Their sweetness is so concentrated that you can munch on them like candy. Having them on hand allows you to throw together a complex, richly flavored pasta dish or salad with essentially no work.

You do have to be HOME for 3-6 hours while they're drying, but you don't need to DO anything more than peek at them every hour or so. But another plus- the method of oil-based drying and storage saves you the trouble of going through the pressure and heating canning practices needed to prevent botulism and other baddies. You can store them safely in oil for quite some time.

Of course, if nobody you know has such a bumper crop of great tomatoes to give you, you can also do this with tomatoes from a Farmers Market, but it won't work too well with wooden supermarket varieties- unless you're one of the lucky ones whose supermarket stocks some luscious seasonal heirlooms from time to time, as we get here in San Francisco a few months of the year. The downside to this is that it will be a much more expensive prospect for you. Since you can use overripe tomatoes, you could try cutting a deal with a vendor if they've got some squishy ones they're looking to unload.



Oven-Dried Tomatoes
I'll put up all of the things I do with my dried tomatoes, when I do something with them!

Ingredients:

• Ripe, flavorful tomatoes, as many as you have or want to use up before they go bad
• A lot of olive oil (some to put on the tomatoes as they dry, more for filling the jar. I would use a mid-range oil for this, not the cheap or light kind, but not the great stuff either. I used Partanna oil from Sicily, 1/2 gallon size that cost around $17, as a reference point.)
• Sea Salt
• Fresh herbs- whatever you like or have on hand (I used thyme because it's my only living herb plant. Oregano, basil, chives, parsley, marjoram- any of those would be great too.)

Method:

• Prepare a sheet pan or a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.
• Cut the tomatoes- if they are little guys, just cut them in half and put the cut side facing up. If they are big, cut them in slices (thin if you want them drier and cracklier, thicker if you want them to have a little heft after drying.) I had little and big, so I tried to cut the big pieces so they were the same size as the little pieces, roughly. That ensures they all get done at roughly the same time.
• Lay the tomatoes out on the pan, in a single layer.
• Drizzle oil over the tomatoes. Don't be shy with it but don't soak them either. I would estimate about 2-3 tablespoons for a whole cookie sheet.
• Sprinkle tomatoes with sea salt and fresh herbs. I like to use whole leaves if it's something small like thyme or oregano, but if you are using basil or parsley you probably want to chop it up.
• Put the pan in a 250 degree oven until the tomatoes are mostly dry. This should take anywhere from 3 to 5 hours, depending on the size and juiciness of the tomatoes.
• When they are done, taste one, and try to stop yourself from eating them all. Once your willpower has prevailed, put them in a jar and cover with oil.
• To use, remove from jar and shake off oil. You can use the oil as well, because it's kind of tomato-y and herb-y, so you can keep it aside to use in a future salad dressing or what have you.