Sun-dried tomato

Fed up of expensive sundried tomatoes in olive oil, but can't stand those horrible, salty, packet ones? A simple solution -- make your own.

You will need:-

Some tomatoes (it's up to you how many you want to make)

Fresh basil

Salt & Pepper

Olive oil

an oven - didn't have one until recently, so I can empathise with noders like dizzy that don't got no heat

Slice you're tomatoes in two and place in a baking tray. Throw on some freshly torn basil leaves, season with salt & pepper. Drizzle with olive oil.

Place your baking tray in an oven, set to it's lowest heat and leave overnight, with a wooden spoon (or some such item) wedged in the door to provide a vent. Leave the tomatoes for at least 8 hours, but longer if you want.

If you're really particular, you can deseed the tomatoes prior to cooking.

Should you make loads & not be able to cram them all down your throat (believe me this is a lot easier than you might imagine), you can store them for about a year, by placing them in a jar, covering them with olive oil & sealing tightly.

If you live in a dry climate, you may be able to make sundried tomatoes by actually drying them in the sun. I'd imagine anywhere like Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, etc. you'd be able to do this.

Is it better? Hard to tell. Seems more authentic though.

You could also use a food dehydrator for this.