Reconstituting Sun Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil
from https://www.thespruceeats.com/
To reconstitute sun-dried or oven-dried tomatoes, immerse the tomatoes in your favorite stock, wine, or warm water for about 30 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft and pliable. Do not discard the soaking liquid. Add it to your recipe. If your recipe contains a lot of liquid such as a soup or stew, there is no need to reconstitute. Simply add them to your recipe. And do not discard the extra virgin olive oil that the tomatoes were stored in. The oil will pick up essence from the tomatoes and can be used for salad dressings as well as drizzling on steaks, chops and even seafood dishes.
Pomodori secchi sott'olio, the Italian phrase for "sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil," is an easy and classic recipe for reconstituting sun-dried tomatoes for easy use. In the southern Italian regions of Puglia and Calabria, these tomatoes hydrated in oil are usually used in antipasti, or as a snack on crusty bread. Added to panini, salads, bruschetta, pasta dishes, pizza, crostini, or the tasty friselle—a hard bread that resembles a bagel half—these versatile tomatoes are great to have at hand and can brighten many dishes in your weekly menu. Use these tomatoes to substitute for fresh tomatoes in sandwiches to avoid your bread becoming soggy; mix them with cream cheese for a quick and tasty dip; or make a pesto sauce to have ready in your fridge for those busy nights when you're short on time to make dinner.
Because the recipe has very few ingredients, be sure you have good quality sun-dried tomatoes—organic is preferable—and a good quality extra virgin olive oil as the oil infuses the tomatoes with flavor, so the better the quality the better taste they'll have. Although the classic recipe doesn't use anything but tomatoes and olive oil, some modern takes add herbs, garlic, capers, or olives. You can use your favorite optional ingredients or skip them altogether, the result will be fantastic regardless. This isn't a canning recipe, but you'll need a big glass jar with a tightly sealing lid of about 20 ounces in capacity.
See Notes on Safe Storage below.
2 to 3 cups water, divided
2 to 3 cups white wine vinegar, divided
40 halves sun-dried tomatoes
3 to 4 cups extra-virgin olive oil
Optional: 1 tablespoon olives, pitted and oil-cured
Optional: 1 tablespoon salt-cured capers, rinsed, dried
Optional: 1 teaspoon dried oregano, or basil, mint, or marjoram
Optional: 1 pinch red chili pepper
Gather the ingredients.
Add 2 cups of water and 2 cups of white wine vinegar to a large pot. [not all recipes add the vinegar]
Add the sun-dried tomatoes to the pot. Be sure they're totally submerged in the liquid. If not, add the remaining cup of water and the remaining cup of white wine vinegar.
Add the sun-dried tomatoes to the pot with the white wine vinegar mixture
Bring the liquid to a quick simmer and let cook for about 10 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat and let sit, covered, for another 3 to 5 minutes so the tomatoes can soften a bit more.
Drain the tomatoes well.
Spread the drained tomatoes on a baking sheet lined with several layers of paper towels, and pat them completely dry with additional paper towels. While they need to be rehydrated in order to have the right consistency, removing as much excess water as possible avoids premature spoilage.
Transfer the tomatoes to the glass jar and, if using any of the optional ingredients, make layers of tomatoes and seasonings.
Once done with the layering, press the tomatoes down a bit and fill the jar with enough olive oil to have them completely submerged. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Keep refrigerated at all times.
Safe Sun-Dried Tomato Storage
Because these tomatoes aren't canned, there are a few safety considerations you need to be aware of:
- Adding dried herbs or already preserved items like capers or olives is very safe, but adding fresh herbs or cloves of garlic increases the risk of botulism, a condition induced by food contaminated by bacteria. Tomatoes are acidic, which makes them far less likely to be dangerous when stored in oil, and the vinegar used to rehydrate them in this recipe acidifies them even more. For additional safety, you can add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to the olive oil when storing them.
- If you choose to add fresh herbs or garlic, consume the tomatoes within 2 days.
- Take out of the jar the number of tomatoes that you need and place the jar immediately back in the refrigerator; the tomatoes will keep fine for several months.
- Do not store them at room temperature, unless you have gone through the process of sterilizing your jar and canning the tomatoes. Once the seal is opened you must refrigerate the product.
