Where are sun-dried tomatoes added, how and what are they eaten with to make it tastier?

Sun-dried tomatoes are the most popular among Mediterranean residents - Italians and Greeks. From time immemorial, tomatoes were dried here on tiled roofs, and then sealed in jars with the addition of aromatic seasonings and olive oil. This is a delicious, sunny, savory addition to your main diet.

Where do you add sun-dried tomatoes?

Sun-dried tomatoes are traditionally eaten with soft and hard cheeses and fresh herbs. They perfectly complement meat and fish.

In Mediterranean cuisine, sun-dried tomatoes often serve as a savory accent to national dishes. They make delicious Italian pasta, red pesto, and focaccia.

Despite the fact that sun-dried tomatoes contain a huge supply of vitamins and minerals, they are very dietary, and therefore are often used in PP recipes. In Russian cuisine, sun-dried tomatoes can replace fresh tomatoes and tomato paste. To do this, you need to soak them for a day in a small amount of water. The tomatoes will become saturated and increase in size.

Here is just a small list of dishes to which you can add sun-dried tomatoes:

• unsweetened pastries, cookies, flatbreads and bread (in dough);
• pizza;
• pasta, spaghetti and macaroni;
• baked poultry and meat (stuffing)
• sauces for meat, poultry, vegetables, seafood and fish;
• vegetable and meat casseroles;
• snacks;
• soups;
• salads;
• omelette;
• savory pies and pies (filling).

The best combinations with spices

Usually sun-dried tomatoes are sold already marinated in spices. But despite this, they are often additionally peppered with black pepper and seasoned with dried herbs.

Sun-dried tomatoes go well with dried basil, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, oregano, and savory. Provencal herbs seasoning is used as standard.

TOP 5 best seasonings for sun-dried tomatoes:

• dried mint and thyme;
• green rosemary and fresh garlic;
• dried hot peppers and honey;
• chopped shallots, garlic and ground ginger;
• chopped dried shrimp and fish sauce.

What can't you combine with?

Italians believe that sun-dried tomatoes can be added wherever possible. There is even ice cream with this spicy additive. However, nutritionists warn that tomatoes contain a lot of salt and acid. Eating them with cheese and fresh vegetables is not very healthy. They can destroy calcium and vitamins and cause increased salt deposition.

Compound

The main ingredient in sun-dried tomatoes is the tomatoes themselves. The jar can contain from 55 to 65% fruit. The remaining 35-45% comes from oil, spices, aromatic additives, salt, and sometimes vinegar.

It is worth noting that a high-quality product is prepared in olive oil with oregano, marjoram, basil, and sometimes with the addition of wine or balsamic vinegar.The presence of table vinegar, parsley, and sunflower oil in the composition is typical for low-quality sun-dried tomatoes.

Smell and taste

Sun-dried tomatoes smell like sunshine and spices. They are very aromatic, the taste and smell are rich, warm, complex, with multiple shades.

• Smell. Rich tomato, fresh, spicy with sourness, bright. May vary depending on what spices were used.
• Taste. Sun-dried tomatoes are soft, cut well and literally melt in your mouth. The taste of tomatoes is enhanced many times over after drying and marinating in oil and spices. They reveal a whole bouquet of flavors: sweet and sour, spicy, fresh, buttery.

How to choose good quality sun-dried tomatoes?

Sun-dried tomatoes are not a cheap pleasure, so you need to choose them carefully. Signs of good quality:

• The fleshiness of tomatoes. This is one of the most important selection criteria. Tomatoes should be dense, thick, and elastic.
• Form. The word-shaped varieties of oblong-shaped tomatoes - roma - are considered ideal for drying. The best variety is San Marzano.
• Color. The fruits in the jar should have a bright, uniform color. As a rule, they are red, but they can also be yellow. The main thing is that the color is not dull. There should be no strange spots or blackening on the fruit.
• Number of tomatoes in the jar. The fruits should be tightly packed into the jar. If tomatoes float in liquid, then this is a reason to doubt their quality.
• Taste and smell. A good, high-quality product retains a bright tomato smell, and spices only emphasize it. If the jar reeks of vinegar and the tomatoes are tasteless or bitter, it means they were prepared incorrectly.

Advice. If the sun-dried tomatoes are not tasty, you can sprinkle them with a small amount of brown sugar.In a day they will become saturated and change their taste beyond recognition, becoming rich, spicy and sweet.

Where and how to store?

Sun-dried tomatoes bought at the supermarket can be stored in the pantry, kitchen cabinet or refrigerator. Until the jar is opened, storage at temperatures from 0 to +21+25 degrees is allowed. The place should be dry, ventilated and dark. The shelf life of the product is up to 24 months.

Once opened, a jar of sun-dried tomatoes should only be stored in the refrigerator. Shelf life – 3 weeks.

It is important that the oil covers the fruit. Otherwise, mold may form on them. To preserve the aroma and taste, the jar must be tightly closed with a lid. It is worth noting that in fact, opened sun-dried tomatoes last much longer in the refrigerator - up to 3 months.

TOP 5 recipes with sun-dried tomatoes

Spicy sun-dried tomatoes are a completely self-sufficient dish that can be served with meat, vegetables and any other dishes. They can serve as an appetizer for wine. At the same time, all kinds of sauces, salads, sandwiches, flatbreads are also often prepared with them... The most popular recipes are Italian.

Salad with spinach and ricotta cheese

Sun-dried tomatoes can decorate any salad not only with their bright appearance, but also with their piquant taste. In a salad with spinach and ricotta, all the ingredients combine perfectly with each other and cause real ecstasy among gourmets.

Grocery list:

• 6-7 sun-dried tomatoes;
• 100 g ricotta cheese;
• 150 g boiled chicken fillet;
• a bunch of spinach;
• 1 shallot;
• 1 tbsp. spoon of lemon juice;
• salt to taste.

How to prepare the salad:

1. Cut the shallots into thin strips, sprinkle with lemon juice and leave for 10 minutes.
2. Cut the tomatoes into pieces.
3. Cut the boiled fillet into small slices.
4. Wash and dry the spinach. Tear with your hands and place on a plate.
5. Cut the ricotta into cubes, mix with tomatoes, chicken and onions. Add salt to taste.
6. Transfer to a plate, pour over aromatic tomato oil or 1 tbsp. spoon of olive oil.

Italian appetizer – bruschetta with sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese

Italians love sun-dried tomatoes. They often use them as an appetizer, pairing them with goat cheese and fresh herbs.

Ingredients for bruschetta:

• 6 slices of white bread;
• PC. sun-dried tomatoes;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 70 g goat cheese;
• 30 g arugula;
• 1 tbsp. spoon of balsamic sauce;
• ground black pepper to taste.

How to prepare Italian appetizer:

1. Fry the bread slices in a dry frying pan until golden brown.
2. Rub half a clove of garlic on one side.
3. Cut the sun-dried tomatoes into small pieces.
4. Spread goat cheese on bread, put 1-2 leaves of arugula, some tomatoes.
5. Pour balsamic sauce over the appetizer and pepper to taste.

Red pesto

It's not exactly a traditional pesto, but many people like it much better than green pesto. Sun-dried tomato pesto tastes piquant, spicy, and very aromatic. It can be added to pasta, vegetable, meat, fish dishes, and even just spread on bread.

To make red pesto you will need:

• 1 large fresh tomato;
• 100-150 g sun-dried tomatoes;
• 50 g hard cheese;
• 50 g pine nuts (can be replaced with almonds, walnuts);
• 3-5 tbsp. spoons of olive oil;
• 1 clove of garlic;
• 2-3 sprigs of basil;
• 1 teaspoon ground sweet paprika.

Step by step recipe:

1. Scald a fresh tomato with boiling water, remove the peel, and combine with sun-dried tomatoes. Grind to a paste in a blender.
2. Crush the nuts into crumbs, finely chop the basil and garlic.
3. Combine tomatoes, nuts, basil, paprika.
4. Gradually add olive oil and grated cheese. The pesto should be creamy.

Advice. You can make a quick red pesto by simply grinding sun-dried tomatoes in a blender along with olive oil and herbs from a jar.

Focaccia with sun-dried tomatoes

For those who don’t know, focaccia is an incredibly tasty and aromatic flatbread that Italians eat instead of bread. Focaccia is considered the ancestor of pizza.

Ingredients:

• 500 g flour;
• 350 ml warm water;
• 100 g sun-dried tomatoes;
• 75 g Parmesan cheese;
• 7 g dry yeast;
• 1 tbsp. spoon of sugar;
• 1 teaspoon salt;
• 8 tbsp. spoons of olive oil;
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram;
• 7 sprigs fresh basil.

Step by step recipe:

1. Mix 350 g flour and sugar.
2. Add yeast to warm water. Let stand for 5-7 minutes.
3. Combine the yeast solution with 3 tbsp. spoons of olive oil and pour into flour. To stir thoroughly.
4. Knead the dough, adding the remaining flour, until it stops sticking to your hands.
5. Cover with cling film and leave warm for 1 hour.
6. While the dough is rising, finely chop the sun-dried tomatoes and basil.
7. Combine with the dough, mix well, and place in heat again for 1 hour.
8. Place the dough on parchment, spread in a 1-3 cm layer. Press out small indentations with your finger, pour the remaining olive oil over the focaccia, and sprinkle with marjoram.
9. Bake at 200 degrees for 15-35 minutes (baking time depends on the thickness of the cake).

Italian pasta with sun-dried tomatoes

There are many recipes for this dish. We will publish the simplest one. This sun-dried tomato pasta is super easy to make at home and tastes amazing.List of ingredients:

• 100 g of Italian durum wheat pasta (preferably tagliatelle);
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 50 g sun-dried tomatoes;
• 50 g Parmesan cheese;
• 50 g processed cheese;
• 50 g arugula;
• 1 tbsp. a spoonful of refined vegetable oil (preferably olive).

Recipe:

1. Boil the pasta. Remove from heat 1 minute earlier than package directions.
2. Pour oil into a frying pan and heat it up. Fry finely chopped garlic with sun-dried tomatoes for 2-3 minutes.
3. Grate Parmesan and melted cheese.
4. Drain the pasta, leaving some liquid at the bottom.
5. Simmer on very low heat.
6. Add tomatoes, melted cheese, arugula, and stir.
7. Simmer over heat until the liquid evaporates. Serve sprinkled with grated Parmesan.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between sun-dried tomatoes and dried tomatoes?

Sun-dried tomatoes take less time to dry. They retain more moisture, they are more meaty, elastic and soft. In the fresh air, the fruits deteriorate quite quickly, and for storage they are prepared in oil. Dried tomatoes are firm, dry, and can be stored in paper bags for 1-2 years.

Is it possible to make sun-dried tomatoes yourself at home?

Yes. To do this, “cream” tomatoes are cut into 2-4 parts and dried in an electric dryer, oven or in the sun until the juice stops oozing from the fruit. After this, the tomatoes are placed in glass jars and poured with heated olive oil and spices. After a week, the sun-dried tomatoes will be ready to eat.

Sun-dried tomatoes are an independent dish, a seasoning, a snack, and a healthy food additive. Usually they do not linger in the kitchen and are eaten very quickly.The main thing is to choose a quality product, and then the question of its use will not arise.