Sun-dried tomatoes from Puglia are salted and dried hard, so they need softening before most recipes. The method is simple: a quick rinse, then a short boil or a half-hour soak in water with a splash of vinegar, a careful drying, and a dressing of garlic, oil and herbs. No extra salt: they already carry plenty.

Many people only meet sun-dried tomatoes as a nibble with a glass of wine before dinner. In Puglia that is the least of what they do. Once softened, they go into a pesto for home-made pasta, into the stock for a risotto, onto bread, into salads and fillings, and they bring a deep, savoury note to almost anything they touch.

Halved tomatoes drying in the sun on large mesh racks in Puglia

A good example is the stock for a risotto. Most cooks reach for carrot, celery and onion; add a few dried tomatoes to the pot with them and the broth takes on a warmer, rounder flavour that is hard to place but easy to like.

One ingredient, many uses. In Puglia tomatoes are traditionally dried in the summer sun on cane or mesh racks, in the months when the heat is strongest. Drying concentrates the whole flavour of the fresh fruit into a small, chewy piece. Beyond the aperitivo and the pesto, softened dried tomatoes go into the dough or onto the top of Apulian focaccia, into country bread, onto bruschetta, into stuffings for meat or fish, into pizza sauces, and into bean and chickpea soups, where they add depth.

Why they need softening first

Whether you are preparing crisp snacks, a bruschetta, a flatbread or a slightly unusual pasta, Apulian dried tomatoes are a cook’s secret weapon. Dried as they are, they keep the qualities of a product that Puglia sends all over the world.

Remember one thing above all: dried tomatoes are a preserve, and salt is part of the preserving. So when you rehydrate them, do not add salt. The aim is to give back some water and take away some salt, without turning them to mush.

Softening by soaking

The technique is a soak in a bowl full of water, much as you would do with dried mushrooms. Before that, give the tomatoes a quick rinse under the cold tap to wash off the most visible salt on the surface.

Why a splash of vinegar in the water? Vinegar is not just a grandmother’s habit. Its acidity makes the soaking water less welcoming to bacteria, which matters most with dried tomatoes kept plain, without oil, sitting in lukewarm water for half an hour. It also brightens the red colour and balances the strong sweetness that drying concentrates in the fruit.

The full method, step by step

Before you start on the pasta or anything else, the tomatoes have to be brought back to life. Here is the method used in Apulian kitchens:

  1. Rinse them well under running water.
  2. Fill a pan with roughly 70% water and 30% vinegar.
  3. Bring it to the boil and drop the tomatoes in for one minute, or instead leave them to soak for 30 minutes in the same water and vinegar at room temperature.
  4. Drain them and dry them carefully.
  5. Dress them as you like: garlic, olive oil, capers, basil, oregano.
  6. Keep them in the fridge and eat them within 3 to 4 days.

Then choose where to use them: in a caprese salad with capers, in cold pasta salads and green salads, or even in savoury muffins.

Other ways to rehydrate them

To be enjoyed properly they must take up water again in the right way. A few alternatives:

  • Hot soak: bring water with a little vinegar to the boil, then leave the tomatoes in it for about half an hour. If they are still hard, repeat.
  • From cold: put the tomatoes in cold water, heat it to the boil, then drain and wait for them to soften.
  • Microwave: put the tomatoes and water in a microwave-safe bowl, bring the water to the boil (a couple of minutes, depending on the power), then leave them for half an hour before using.
  • In every case: rinse them under fresh running water at the end and pat them dry with kitchen paper to remove the last of the salt.

After rehydrating: dressing and storing. Once softened and dried, the tomatoes are ready for their dressing. The classic Apulian one is thinly sliced garlic, wild oregano, extra virgin olive oil and sometimes a pinch of chilli. Let them rest in the fridge for at least an hour before serving, so the flavours can work their way into the softened flesh. Kept in a closed container, covered with oil, they last 3 to 4 days in the fridge. And do not skip the vinegar in the soaking water.

Now that you know how to wash and soften dried tomatoes, there is no reason to leave them in the cupboard: they are a quality ingredient that gives a recipe its own character. In Puglia they also turn up on seasoned frise, the twice-baked rings of bread that are softened with water before being dressed, and among the jars of our Apulian preserves. They are also one of the things worth packing in your suitcase: see what to bring back from Puglia.

Apulian sun-dried tomatoes in our shop. If you are looking for good dried tomatoes made in Puglia, you can find them in our online shop: chosen from small local producers who still dry them in the sun, with traditional methods and no artificial preservatives.

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