Recipe day: what to do with all those cherry tomatoes

I've had my second year in a row with a bumper crop of Sunburst cherry tomatoes. I was amused the other day walking through our local grocery chain when I saw this display:

10.5 ounces of conventionally grown tomatoes for $3.49 seemed like a good deal until I looked back and realized that so far this summer I've harvested over 10 pounds of these tomatoes from two plants (not including the ones we pick and eat while working outside). And my tomatoes have zero food miles and are grown organically.

Cherry tomatoes are often very prolific, but who REALLY needs 10+ pounds of cherry tomatoes over just a few summer weeks? There are only so many salads one can eat, only so many tomatoes the neighbors will take, and even though the chickens love to eat them, it seems like such a waste to feed them to the birds.

My friend Molly gave me a wonderful tip last summer on how to dry and save these tiny, sweet tomatoes. I tried it last year and liked it so much I knew I needed to share this secret. Whether you grow your own or you get too many cherry tomatoes from your CSA, this is a wonderful way to stretch the joy of the harvest out into the winter without too much trouble.

You can use these tomatoes in the same way you would use any sundried tomatoes. We especially like them on pizza or tossed with pasta, olive oil, and shredded parmesan. I've also thrown them in stir fried vegetables for an added sweet and tangy flavor.

How to do it:

• Lightly grease a baking dish
• Pre-heat oven to 250F
• Chop tomatoes in half and arrange them skin side down
• Bake for 2 hours (I check them about half way through)
• The tomatoes are done with they have mostly dried out
• When finished cooking, allow the baking dish to cool completely
• Place baking dish in the freezer for a few hours until the tomatoes are frozen
• Using a spatula, pick up tomatoes and store them in a baggie or other freezer-safe container
• The frozen tomatoes should last until the next summer

Tomatoes ready for the oven.

Dried out and ready to freeze. Like berries, freezing these separately on a tray keeps them from sticking together and makes them easier to use.

Oven-dried cherry tomatoes will be delicious in a fast weekday meal or on my Super Bowl pizza this winter!

In other news!

The little rain garden that I planted early in the summer has attracted Monarch butterflies, and we now have caterpillars. I am very excited about this urban farm update!

Have a great week everyone!