Sun Dried Tomatoes

End of season, I'm always trying to stretch the last of my harvest before the long months without home grown tomatoes sets in.  This year, I had a half dozen small ones so I decided to give sundried tomatoes a try.  Being a small batch, I opted for my air fryer over drying in my big oven.  The process was extremely easy!

Step 1 was to halve or quarter the tomatoes depending on size.  Squeeze out any seeds and pulp so you just have the flesh and lay out on a pan on a sheet of parchment paper.  Lightly salt. I use sea salt for these.

I placed them in my air fryer on "Bake" setting at about 190-200 degrees.  My air fryer turns off after a max time of 60 minutes.  I reset it once to another 60 minutes for a total of 2 hours.  And then I'll be honest:  I was busy doing other things and forgot about them.  After 2 hours of baking, then just sitting in the air fryer gradually cooling for probably another hour, I pulled them out and discovered they were perfect! (Phew!)  Dry, but still a little sticky and pliable.

The last step was to pack them into a mason jar, fill with olive oil and stick in the fridge.  Supposedly, they will be good for about 3 weeks stored this way.

Straight olive oil will solidify in the refrigerator.  To avoid this, I will often mix 1/2 olive oil with 1/2 canola or sunflower oil.  I do this for homemade salad dressings also, when I want to keep them pourable straight out of the fridge.

I've also read that they can be frozen for longer storage.  I will probably try that next year, as I have a feeling these will go fast!

This next photo is not mine, but it's a photo of the recipe I plan to try with these tomatoes.  Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Chicken from the blog Sip and Feast.  It looks absolutely dreamy!