Strange weather and some drying

What strange weather we’ve had these past few days. Saturday was 39 degrees, a blazing sun in a vivid blue sky; more a summer’s day than spring. Sunday evening we had a short but spectacular, electrical storm with rain heavy enough to have us scurrying to close windows, and thunder that sent the cats under the bed. And today, well again, it has the look of rain about it.  

One of last year’s tomato bushes has had a resurgence and set fruit, which has ripened all at once in the summery heat. I bought it on a whim, only to discover later that this particular variety, Principe Borgese, was bred as a tomato more suited to drying than eating freshly picked. We’ve been eating the fruit fresh regardless, but as we now have so many (not what you could honestly call a glut but enough to play with), I thought I would give drying a try. 

The tomatoes had to washed and halved before being put into a low oven.

 Here they are ready to go. I set the oven at its lowest setting - 50 degrees.

This is the same tray of fruit, three hours later (we taste a few before taking this photo). These tiny dried tomato halves may not look like much, but the difference in taste to the fresh fruit is amazing. Almost tasteless and quite mealy straight from the bush, these dried morsels are now a burst of rich tomatoey goodness in the mouth. 

Because I’m not sure they’ve dried sufficiently to store in the pantry for any length of time, I’ve bagged them and popped them in the freezer, though they may last too long in there either, as I have a definite urge to make pizza….