How to preserve sun-dried tomatoes in oil

We have often written about sun-dried tomatoes, one of the classic preserves of Puglia, and about the two forms in which you can buy them: dry and salted, or already covered in oil. Here we focus on how to prepare the second kind yourself, starting from the first, so that you have good sun-dried tomatoes in oil ready to use in your cooking however you like.

Sun-dried tomatoes in oil, step by step

1. Rinse them well. Hold the dried tomatoes under running water to rinse off the excess salt on their surface.
2. Boil them for three minutes in a mixture of water and vinegar, 70% water and 30% vinegar.
3. Dry them on kitchen paper.
4. Cover them with oil. At this point your tomatoes are ready to be dressed with oil.

How to use sun-dried tomatoes in oil

Once you have learnt how to soften dried tomatoes, you are ready to bring them to the table. The first idea is the classic cold pasta salad, the pasta dish Italians eat in summer: soften the tomatoes in the usual way, cut them into small pieces and stir them straight into the pasta.

A second idea is a pasta sauce with artichokes. Braise the artichokes gently in a frying pan, then add the softened sun-dried tomatoes, cut into thin strips. Let everything cook together for about five minutes and your sauce is ready: use it to dress a plate of orecchiette, the little ear-shaped pasta of Puglia. If you prefer your artichokes preserved too, see our recipe for artichokes in oil.

These are only two suggestions for getting the most out of this ingredient: in the kitchen you can have fun trying all the other ways of using sun-dried tomatoes. More Apulian jars, from jams to olives, are collected in our preserves section.