Enter the FOOD DEHYDRATOR!
It's incredibly easy to dehydrate your excess cherry tomatoes.
1) Cut them in half
2) Arrange skin-side down on dehydrator trays, leaving space around each tomato
3) Set the temp to 125 degrees F
4) Check periodically for dryness - if you want to store them on the counter without them molding, they need to be crispy and not pliable
That's it!
I did five pounds of cherry tomatoes on five trays, and it took around 24 hours to get them to the crispy state I wanted for shelf storage. Smaller tomatoes, or fewer of them, would likely take less time.
How can you use dried tomatoes (other than snacking, of course)?
- A topping on fresh, green salads
- Chopped and added to risotto
- Mixed in to pasta salad
- Use them to top homemade focaccia bread
Dehydrated cherry tomatoes are one of the simplest, most hands-off ways to put aside some of the harvest and not have to worry about it again until you get a hankering for those sweet summer tomatoes, long after they're gone.
