Dried tomatoes in oil: four hours in a barely warm oven
In southern Italy they are traditionally dried in the August sun over several days. Here the oven does it, set to 90 °C with the door propped open — low heat drives off the water without baking, so the tomato shrinks and concentrates instead of scorching at the edges. The essential step is scooping out the watery seed pockets: they add the most to the drying time, and once scooped out they are good for a sauce.
Your own work in that: 45 min.
- Preparing 25 min
- Drying 255 min
- Jars 20 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneHalve and hollow out
Cut the tomatoes lengthwise in half and scoop out the watery seed chambers with a teaspoon, leaving only the walls. That water would have to evaporate in the oven and would noticeably lengthen the drying; do not throw it away, though, as it carries plenty of flavour.
Ingredients: 2000 g plum tomatoes · 2 tsp salt · 1 tsp sugar · 1 tbsp dried oregano · 3 tbsp olive oil
TipTip the scooped pulp into a pan and boil it with salt — pushed through a sieve it gives a little homemade passata, just right for a soup or sauce. Nothing is wasted.
Walls only, the watery seeds scooped outLay out and season
Arrange the halves cut side up on a rack set over a tray — air has to circulate underneath too. Sprinkle with salt, sugar and oregano and drizzle with oil. The sugar is not there to sweeten but to reinforce the natural sweetness of less-than-ripe tomatoes.
Cut side up, on a rack, not on the trayDry for four hours
Put them in an oven heated to 90 °C and wedge the door open with a wooden spoon. Dry 4 to 5 hours. The moisture has to escape; in a closed oven the tomatoes would stew in their own steam and never reach the right texture.
TipHave a fan oven? Set 80 °C with the fan and cut an hour off. Moving air does the job of a propped door.
Door propped open; the steam must escapeKnow when they are done
A tomato is ready when it is shrunken, deep red and leathery but still pliable — bent, it neither snaps nor weeps juice. A brittle half is over-dried and will not soften again in oil. Cool completely on the rack.
TipThey dry unevenly: the small ones can be ready an hour early. Take them off individually as they finish rather than waiting for the whole tray.
Layer them into jars
Fill scalded jars in layers: tomatoes, a slice of garlic, a basil leaf, a few peppercorns, and so on to the top. Press down with a spoon so no air pockets remain — that is usually where mould starts.
Ingredients: 400 ml olive oil · 4 cloves garlic · 10 pcs fresh basil · 1 tsp peppercorns
Layered and pressed, with no air pocketsCover with oil and wait
Pour in oil to cover the tomatoes by 1 cm. Tap the jar on the counter to release bubbles and check the level after an hour — the oil settles and more is usually needed. Seal and put in the fridge for 2–3 days before opening so the flavours can meld.
Ingredients: 400 ml olive oil · 4 cloves garlic · 10 pcs fresh basil · 1 tsp peppercorns
A centimetre of oil above the tomatoes
Before you start
How long they keep
Only in the fridge, up to two weeks from jarring, provided the tomatoes stay fully covered in oil; any piece above the oil will mould within days. Do not keep them in the pantry: raw garlic and fresh basil under oil make an airless environment where botulism can develop. Freeze straight away any jars you will not finish within two weeks.
The oil is a second product
Once the tomatoes are gone you are left with oil steeped in their flavour, garlic and herbs. It is excellent on pasta, on bread and as a vinaigrette base — don't pour it away.
What to use them for
Pasta with garlic and parsley, on pizza, in a feta spread, in sandwiches with mozzarella. Chopped fine they replace tomato paste in sauces, adding sweetness and salt at once.
Without oil
Dried 1–2 hours longer, until brittle, they keep up to a year in an airtight jar somewhere dry and dark. Before using, pour boiling water over them for 15 minutes to soften.