How to Treat Tomatoes: Hang ‘Em Out to Dry

Chef Evan Kleinman of Angeli on Melrose and seed expert Renee Shepherd don’t waste any of their home-grown cherry tomatoes. They dry them for later use in everything from pasta salads to pizza, even in winter’s green salads.

Because cherry tomatoes produce more than anyone can eat fresh, drying them is an idea worth knowing about. (Have you priced dried tomatoes recently?)

If the weather is dry enough (it often is in fall when the Santa Anas are blowing), Kleinman simply strings whole cherry tomatoes on something like upholstery thread and hangs them in the sun to dry. Make sure the thread is not too smooth or fine, or it will slice the tomatoes.

Shepherd cuts the tomatoes in half, quickly dips them in white vinegar and lays them in the sun on nylon window screening that’s been stretched over a wood frame. She covers them with cheesecloth to keep the birds and flies away, bringing them in at night.

Another method Kleinman uses is to dry them in an oven. She cuts them in half, puts them on a cookie sheet and lightly sprinkles them with coarse salt. She drizzles on a little olive oil, adds a little pepper and some fresh, finely chopped thyme. She then leaves them in an oven set at 200 degrees for about four to six hours.

Before they get crisp, when they’re about as dry and pliable as fruit leathers, set the whole pan in the freezer; when they’re frozen, put them in a reclosable plastic bag and pop them back in the freezer.

Shepherd also dries half cherry tomatoes on a metal grid sprayed with vegetable oil, in an oven set at about 140 to 160 degrees for six to eight hours (she suggests propping electric range doors open with a wooden spoon to allow for good air circulation). Put them in plastic bags and keep them in a freezer for maximum freshness.

“Eat them like candy,” she said. “Kids love them.”

Or use the tomatoes dried or reconstituted in meals. To plump them back up, soak them in wine, water or broth for about five minutes.