Sun-dried Tomatoes

[Guest guest]

Please excuse my ignorance

I have found three different types of sun-died tomatoes at the grocery

store. I am trying to figure out the best way to use them.

There is those in a jar packed in oil – I want to stay away from those

because of the excess oil. There are those in a 3oz bag that are as

hard as rocks and I know that they have to be rehydrated in boiling

water before using. But then I found some in a quart plastic

container that is not oil or anything else *but* they are not hard

like the others. Do these require rehydrating? There is no

instructions anywhere, in fact there is little on the label other than

the name.

[Guest guest]

> There are those in a 3oz bag that are as

hard as rocks and I know that they have to be rehydrated in boiling

water before using. But then I found some in a quart plastic

container that is not oil or anything else *but* they are not hard

like the others.

 

The one sin the bag are the same as the container, but probably the bag

wasn't as air-tight as the container so they dried out. Our grocery

store sometimes has the dry sun-dried in a basket for bulk buying, and

you can tell how long certain tomatoes have been there by their dryness

level.

 

 

> Do these require rehydrating? There is no

instructions anywhere, in fact there is little on the label other than

the name.

 

 

There's no hard and fast rule. I noticed that most recipes that call for

sun-dried tomatoes specify the jarred in oil ones. When it says that I

just rehydrate some of my dried ones to plump them up. But when using in

a soup or stew, or even when I chop them up small to toss in the bread

machine when making pizza dough, I don't bother and just put them in

while dry.

 

 

Sue in NJ

[Guest guest]

Sue,

Do you have an estimate for how many/much tomatoes you put in your

pizza dough? That sounds like it would be yummy!

 

Thanks,

Mary

 

, " Sue in NJ " <sue_in_nj wrote:

 

> There's no hard and fast rule. I noticed that most recipes that call for

> sun-dried tomatoes specify the jarred in oil ones. When it says that I

> just rehydrate some of my dried ones to plump them up. But when using in

> a soup or stew, or even when I chop them up small to toss in the bread

> machine when making pizza dough, I don't bother and just put them in

> while dry.

>

>

> Sue in NJ

>

[Guest guest]

> Do you have an estimate for how many/much tomatoes you put in your

> pizza dough? That sounds like it would be yummy!

 

I take about 6 of those dried tomato halves and use my kitchen shears to

cut them up in smaller pieces. If I'm in a hurry I just toss them in

right at the beginning and it gives the dough a pinkish color with a few

red flecks. Other times I carry my kitchen timer around with me and drop

them in when the " fruit and nut beep " goes off, about 40 minutes into

the cycle, so the finished dough has less pink and more pieces.

 

This is enough dough for 2 large pies. If you're making smaller amounts

of dough you might want to use less tomatoes. Or not, if you're a tomato

lover.

 

 

Sue in NJ

[Guest guest]

Thanks Sue! It had never occurred to me to put dried tomato bits in my

pizza crust, though I have put sun-dried tomato spread on top instead

of pizza sauce. I might just have to get adventurous over the next

couple of weeks. )

 

Take care,

Mary

 

, " Sue in NJ " <sue_in_nj wrote:

 

> I take about 6 of those dried tomato halves and use my kitchen shears to

> cut them up in smaller pieces. If I'm in a hurry I just toss them in

> right at the beginning and it gives the dough a pinkish color with a few

> red flecks. Other times I carry my kitchen timer around with me and drop

> them in when the " fruit and nut beep " goes off, about 40 minutes into

> the cycle, so the finished dough has less pink and more pieces.

>

> This is enough dough for 2 large pies. If you're making smaller amounts

> of dough you might want to use less tomatoes. Or not, if you're a tomato

> lover.

>

>

> Sue in NJ

>