Dried Tomato Pesto
Adapted from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara KingsolverIf you haven’t read Barbara Kingsolver’s book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle you should—it is certain to inspire you on several fronts! This dish would make a fabulous appetizer on bread as below, tossed with pasta or added to rice and grain dishes. You could use the tomatoes from the recipe for Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes that is posted under Tomatoes if you don’t have dried tomatoes. Another option would be to dry cherry tomatoes yourself in a low oven (about 150 to 200 degrees) if you don’t have a dehydrator. I have included instructions for this below. The Juliet Plum cherry tomatoes are a great choice for both drying and roasting.
2 cups dried tomatoes
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup dried basil
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons balsamic or other good vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Puree all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Add a little water if it seems too sticky, but it should remain thick enough to spread on a slice of bread.
Oven Dried Cherry Tomatoes
Adapted from About.com
These cherry tomato halves will shrink to about three-fourths their original size, become a deep red color and will have an intense tomato taste. You will find them to be much better than the sun-dried tomatoes you can buy at the store.
35 cherry tomatoes (about), 2 to 3 pints
1 to 2 tablespoons salt
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally and arrange them cut side up on the baking sheet, touching each other. They will shrink to about three-quarters of their original size. Sprinkle well with salt. Bake in the center of the oven for 2 to 3 hours.
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Revision 2. Last edited Fri 13 Aug 2010 11:56am by NaomiSofer