How to make sun dried tomatoes

At this time of year tomatoes get given away, or sold by the bagful for one euro, or even dumped, because they're so plentiful. Also at this time of the year I try my hand at making sun dried and sun blushed tomatoes (I'll explain the difference later).

For something so simple getting the perfect result has taken me seven summers of practice. I've had my share of disapointments and most years I've ended up throwing them away, but this year I turned the corner. Now my sun dried toms are the best ever, they'd win a prize, they're that good. I know there are food enthusiasts and some very good cooks who read this blog. So for you I offer the secret of my tomatoes.

Sun dried tomatoes
Cut the ripe tomatoes in half and scoop out most of the seeds, so the tomatoes are hollow. Sprinkle with salt and leave in the sun. The secret is to take out the seeds! It takes one to two weeks to dry them, when they are dried I keep them in paper bags and they last throughout the year.

Sun blush tomatoes
These are also called semi-sun dried tomatoes. These are sweeter than sun dried, don't need cooking, and can be preserved in olive oil.

I cut the tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds. Then I sprinkle salt in them and leave them in the sun for one or two days, it depends how sunny it is.

Next I rinse off the salt and let them dry. Then I mix crushed garlic, oregano, black pepper and brown sugar, to suit my taste. Spread this mixture inside each tomato. The tomatoes go back in the sun for one more day, don't leave them out overnight.

I store the sun blushed tomatoes in glass jars and cover them with olive oil. They're wonderful chopped up and mixed with fresh tomatoes in salad, or you can use them in recipes instead of sun dried tomatoes.