Dried Tomatoes

Buongiorno a tutti!

Today I have been in Chelsea Market, a place that I loooooove so much!. I bought some dried tomatoes. Well, probably you are asking yourself "why!?" "What are they for?". Dried tomatoes are an healty and versatile ingredients of the mediterranean cuisine. They are typical of Southern Italy, where the women dried San Marzano tomatoes under the powerful summer sunshine. Once dried, they are easy to prepare. Just follow these instructions:

TOOLS:

• a pot (una pentola)

TIMING:

• 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 7oz dried tomatoes (200gr di pomodori secchi)
• 1/4 cup of wine vinegar, better if white (4 cucchiai di aceto di vino, meglio bianco)
• some capers (alcuni capperi)
• 2 garlic cloves (2 spicchi di aglio)
• some leaves of bay (alcune foglie di alloro)
• salt
• extra-virgin oil

FIRST STEP:

• boil tomatoes in about 6 cups (1,5 litres) of boiling water and 1/4 cup of vinegar for about 7 minutes

bollite i pomodori in acqua bollente e aceto per 7 minuti

• strain and dry very well with a paper cloth

scolate e asciugate bene

SECOND STEP:

• in a pot dispose tomatoes, some capers, little slices of garlic, some laurel leaves and a little pinch of salt

mettete i pomodori in un barattolo e aggiungete capperi, fettine di aglio, foglie di alloro a un pizzico di sale

• repeat the layering until you finish your tomatoes

continuate a disporre i pomodri a strati con gli ingredienti come indicato

• cover completely with extra-virgin oil

coprite con olio

• close the pot and keep it in the refrigerator. It could be preserved for about 2 weeks

chiudete il barattolo e conservate in frigo. Può essere conservato per due settimane.

You can use the tomatoes so prepared for several dishes: with some walnuts to enrich your salad, with cream goat cheese as an appetizer, chopped with ricotta as a delightful sauce for your pasta. Don't be afraid to use so many oil. It's essential to preserve tomatoes and you can use it to dress your dishes as well. Remaining with tomatoes for days it will become absolutely delicious.

Another important fact to remember while preparing this recipe is that dried tomatoes contain a good amount of Iron for your body...I remember my doctor recommended them to me when I was vegetarian...

Soon I think I'm gonna write a post with some advises for kitchen lectures ... I'm doing some researches and I want to share them with you!

So, write you soon!