Preserving roast tomatoes in olive oil

[Incy]

Hi,
Does anyone have a good recipe for roasting tomatoes and storing them in olive oil.
OH had one and now can't find it. He is going spare trying to find something on t'internet (IT not being his favourite thing) so I thought I'd ask and see if any grapes could help.

[flobadob]

im looking for the same, i pretty sure you just scoop out the seeds, place in a very low oven for 1 1/2 hrs and put into a steralised jar when cool and top up with olive oil. im looking for any thing to get rid of my glut of toms

[bazzaboy]

Incy, Flob, There was a lengthy discussion on this topic a bit earlier this year, see
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...oes_10827.html
for lots of tips....
I've tried various recipes (basically dry and put in olive oil - Google "oven dried tomatoes recipe" and you'll get about half a million hits, how big is your glut?) but personally I always feel a bit uncomfortable with the idea (oil isn't a preservative) so keep them in the fridge as well; other are less squeamish and live to tell the tale so my worries are probably unfounded.... b

[Incy]

Thanks Bazzaboy.
Indeed, after much googling OH discovered all sorts of potential problems including botchalism (sp)
Will have a read of the thread and see whta others have concluded.

[rustylady]

I roast mine in the oven with onions, garlic, and sometimes a chilli or two, drizzled with olive oil. Then blitz them in the food processor and freeze in tubs. Instant pasta sauce, or a good base for spag bol etc.

[Incy]

Sounds great rustylady. Thanks for the tip, will pass on to OH.

[murphy99]

I am doing the same varying the additives(Garlic, herbs etc) I have some in the oven now on trays one with garlic, salt and oil. The other with balsamic vinegar... haven't tried thet one yet!

I don't blitz all mine , once roasted I have been transfering them to freezer bags and freezing as is... figured I could add them to recipies other than pasta sauce if they were whole:-)

I am planning on making a lasagna today with some of the roasted toms in the sauce... a bit of an experiment you may say

I too am wary of preserving anything in oil but this is my first year of growing so just trying to get them stored any way possible without them going bad.

cheers
Helen

[smallblueplanet]

There's other threads on here too - including one with info I posted. Basically it differed slightly from most in that it said dip the oven-dried toms in vinegar before putting them into the jar and adding the oil. We made some years ago (when we had a summer!) and they lasted very well (at least over winter) and tasted yummy.

[piskieinboots]

I've just done several jars of the oven-dried toms, they look proper lovely

[Hilary B]

Tomatoes are slightly acid (that is why you can bottle them, like fruit) so if semi-dried, oil might be enough to preserve them properly. If fully dried, they should keep for ages in 'ye olde air-tight tin', if you can find one.

PS, never had enough to try drying, but friend living in Portugal dried some and sent me a bag, and what I hadn't used within a year were still OK.

[wellie]

I totally share what smallblueplanet has said.
I try to 'sunblush' our tomatoes, rather that totally dry to a chewy leather consistency. And I do this by placing them in a very very low oven (sometimes you may have to keep the oven door open?) And once at the stage 'I like the look of' when they've dried out enough 'in my mind' for preserving, I spray with white balsamic vinegar and then put them in jars with olive oil.
But do make sure that you tease out any air bubbles within the jar, or the whole thing may be spoiled over the coming months. And make sure the tomatoes are completely covered in oil, or they'll turn mouldy.
Hope this helps a bit.
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