Dishes with sun-dried tomatoes

A rich harvest of juicy ripe tomatoes allows you to harvest them for future use in the fall in pickled, pickled and even dried form. Sun-dried tomatoes can be a wonderful appetizer for main dishes.

The main thing about sun-dried tomatoes

The habit of eating dried vegetables came to us from Italy, Greece and other warm countries. The Mediterranean sun allows you to dry tomatoes right on the street. But in our climate it is very difficult to do this, so domestic culinary specialists use an oven or an electric stove for these purposes.

There is nothing complicated in the preparation of dried vegetables. The main thing to remember is that the appearance and taste of the final product largely depends on the degree of shrinkage. Dried tomatoes are divided into two types:

• baked (so they are obtained after 1-2 hours of baking in the oven);
• dried (after 5-7 hours of drying).

Recipes with sun-dried tomatoes:

Dried tomatoes can be used in appetizers for meat and fish dishes, salads, pastas and countless other dishes where you need an intense tomato flavor. The taste of sun-dried tomatoes is rich, so when adding to dishes, be careful not to overdo it.

Italian pasta with sundried tomatoes

Pasta with vegetables is an easy and quick dish that will not leave extra pounds on your figure.

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti – 200 g
• Dried tomatoes – 50 g
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Parmesan cheese – 30 g
• Salt and pepper

First of all, boil spaghetti in boiling salted water. The cooking time must be indicated on the package. At this time, we are preparing the tomato dressing. Fry garlic slices in olive oil in a frying pan. Add chopped sun-dried tomatoes and simmer the mixture for a few more minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. We also put the boiled spaghetti in a pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
That’s all! It remains to put the food on plates and sprinkle grated cheese on top.

Pasta with cheese and sun-dried tomatoes

Another option for making pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, but with the addition of cream cheese. 

Ingredients:

• Dried tomatoes – 1.2 cups
• Fettuccine pasta – 200 g
• Dried basil
• Milk – 1 glass
• Butter – 2 tbsp.
• Cream cheese – 60 g
• Parmesan cheese – 60 g
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Chicken broth – 2 cups
• Salt and pepper

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to package instructions. Then we move on to the preparation of the side dish. Fry chopped tomatoes with garlic in a deep frying pan in butter to better reveal the aroma of dried vegetables. Next, gradually add ready-made fettuccine, dried basil to the pan and pour everything with chicken broth. Salt and pepper to taste.

It is important that the pasta is completely submerged in the broth. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Simmer pasta and vegetables for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Then cut the cream cheese into pieces and add to the pasta. Once the cheese is melted, pour in the milk. Simmer for a few more minutes to form a homogeneous sauce. Divide the pasta among bowls and top with grated parmesan cheese. Optionally, you can also add pieces of boiled chicken to the dish.

Spaghetti with ham and sun-dried tomatoes

Once you’ve tried spaghetti paired with juicy sun-dried tomatoes, smoked ham, fresh basil and parmesan cheese, you’ll definitely want more.

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti – 400 g
• Dried tomatoes – 1 jar
• Fresh basil and parsley
• Garlic – 2-3 cloves
• Smoked ham – 150 g
• Parmesan cheese – 50 g
• Olive oil – 3 tbsp.
• Salt and pepper

Boil spaghetti according to package instructions. Next, fry the chopped garlic in a pan with olive oil. Cut and add dried vegetables, ham, parsley and basil. Salt and pepper. Add spaghetti to the tomatoes and simmer for a few more minutes.

Garnish with grated parmesan cheese before serving.

Pizza with mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes

Homemade pizza according to this recipe turns out so tasty that it forever discourages the desire to buy a frozen semi-finished product. And most importantly, the recipe is very simple and does not require special culinary skills.

Ingredients:

• Flour – 200 g
• Water – 100 ml
• Dry yeast – 1 tsp.
• Honey – 1 tbsp.
• Tomatoes – 5 pcs.
• Dried tomatoes – ½ jar
• Olive oil – 2 tbsp.
• Salt and pepper

Sift flour and add yeast, butter and salt. Mix water with honey and pour into the mixture in a thin stream. Knead the dough with your hands until it becomes elastic. We shift the dough into a bag and leave it to “rest” for an hour so that the yeast “calms down”, and then the dough rolls out easily.

Now it’s time for the sauce. Cut fresh tomatoes into cubes and simmer in olive oil in a pan with garlic and basil. Salt and pepper. When the mass has cooled, pass through a blender. If you don’t have the time or desire to chop the tomatoes yourself, you can use the ready-made Federici Tomato Pizza-sauce.

Roll out the finished dough into a thin layer. Lubricate with sauce and oil from a jar of sun-dried tomatoes, and cut the tomatoes themselves and put them on pizza. Then lay out the pieces of mozzarella cheese, basil leaves and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese. Carefully roll up the sides of the pizza.

Set the oven to 180 degrees. Bake pizza for 20 minutes. Bon appetit!

How to cook and store sun-dried tomatoes at home

Dried tomatoes can be cooked in a vegetable dryer or in the oven. For shrinking tomatoes at home for the winter or for a single use, it is recommended to choose elastic and ripe vegetables of the “Cream” or “Lady’s fingers” variety. Before washing, cut each tomato in half, cutting out the stem. We lay out the pieces on the wire rack, and place a baking sheet downstairs for the flowing juice. Salt the tomatoes and leave on moderate heat for 4-5 hours. If the oven does not have a convector, the door must be opened from time to time to allow steam to escape.

How to store sun dried tomatoes? If the blanks turned out to be dry, then they will be perfectly preserved in textile bags. Meaty tomatoes are best placed in glass jars and pour hot oil dressing with salt, garlic and herbs.

Ready-made jars can be stored in the refrigerator, where they can be stored for several weeks, and used as needed.

Cook and try new flavors with pleasure!