Oven-Dried Tomatoes

It's Halloween week and preparations have begun!  This year I intend to cook not only dinner, but as many condiments as I can too.  Starting with Sun-Dried - in this case Oven-Dried - Tomatoes.

Oven-Dried Tomatoes

For one jar:
3 x 220g packs of small tomatoes; this time I have used Golden Beauty, Sweet Aromatico and Baby Plum
Caster sugar
Salt
Fresh Thyme
Olive Oil

Halve the tomatoes and lay them face down on a wire rack for 30+ minutes to drain, smaller tomatoes may not drain but juices will be released.

Heat oven to 60C (fan assisted, 80C if not).

Turn the tomatoes over and sprinkle with a pinch or two of salt and twice that of sugar.  Pull the leaves off 5-6 stalks of fresh thyme and sprinkle over the tomatoes, I like to be generous.

Put in the oven for 6-8hrs, prop the oven door ajar ever so slightly to let it air as it cooks.  Luckily for me, in our wonky old kitchen, the oven door catches on the adjacent cupboard, perfect for this!

Once cooked, put the tomatoes in sterilised jars with a bayleaf and a sprig of thyme and cover with olive oil.  Keep in a cool dark place and eat within the month.

For softer tomatoes, reduce the cooking time by an hour and the storage time by two weeks.