3 easy ways to preserve garden-fresh tomatoes

Nothing beats a tomato still warm from the vine. If you're looking for new ways to preserve tomatoes to keep that garden-fresh flavour going all year round, these methods will fit the bill for tasty ingredients to enhance your cooking.

To make delicious sun dried-tomatoes that still retain their flavourful, fresh-from-the-garden essence:

1. Wash and dry the tomatoes. Cut them in half, lengthwise, leaving the seeds.
2. Place the cut side up on a drying tray. Lightly sprinkle cut surfaces with salt.
3. Place the tray in the sun until halves are completely dry. Leave them for six days in full sun, followed by six days in a well-ventilated shady spot. Do not allow them to get wet.

If sun drying is not possible for the entire time, the process can be finished off in an indoor drier or an oven on the lowest possible setting.

• Take care that the tomatoes do not actually cook!
• If the entire process is done in an oven it takes about 12 hours.

Nothing goes better on crackers or toasted baguette slices, in sandwiches and rolls, or tossed in a Greek salad than dried tomatoes in seasoned oil. To prepare this tasty treat:

Ingredients

• Dried tomato halves
• Olive oil
• Herbs and spices of choice
• Malt vinegar (optional)

Preparation instructions

1. Half fill glass jars with olive oil that has been seasoned to taste with basil, oregano, garlic, capers or chopped chili. (You can also add a splash of malt vinegar if desired.) Take care not to add too much oil, as it could overflow when you add the tomatoes.
2. Gently pack whole dried tomato halves into the glass jars.
3. After the dried tomatoes have been added, top up jars with extra oil and leave them for about three weeks. This allows the tomatoes to absorb the full flavours of the different seasonings.

It's best to use fleshy, plum tomatoes for paste. They are not very juicy so don't take as long to concentrate.  This is how they make great tomato paste in Italy and Greece, where this recipe comes from:

Ingredients

• Fresh ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• Herbs and spices of choice (optional)

Preparation instructions

1. Put the chopped tomatoes into a heavy pot and crush them to extract the juice. Cook for about one hour until very soft, then purée in a food processor or food mill.
2. Return the purée to the pot and simmer, stirring often, over a very low heat until the liquid is reduced by half. This takes about two to four hours.
3. Spread the purée two centimetres thick on trays lined with plastic cling wrap and place in the sun for about two days (or food drier) until it is no longer sticky.
4. Roll the dried paste into five centimetre balls and let dry at room temperature for another one to two days. Store in airtight jars.

You can easily add balls of tomato paste to soups, stews, sauces and gravies to enhance their flavours, or add to cooked tomatoes to make tomato sauce.

• For variety, garlic, basil, oregano and parsley can be added to the purée when making tomato paste.

There are loads of tasty ways to preserve the goodness of tomatoes, either to eat by themselves or to use for enhancing recipes. Whatever the time of year, these three tomato recipe ideas will help add a touch of summery zest to your cooking.

--------------------

Discover the smarter way to save time and money

Ready to start saving more on your groceries and pharmacy purchases? Download the FREE YP Grocery app today! It lets you create shareable shopping lists, automatically finds all the best deals and coupons, then delivers them right to you. No more manually scrolling through hundreds of flyers to find what you’re looking for!

Download the YP Grocery app now!