Help me take these sundried tomatoes from dry and sad to delicious.

February 1, 2024 9:48 PM

I have a bag of sundried tomatoes (the dried kind, not the packed-in-oil kind) and a desire for sundried tomato tapenade. How do I make this happen?

As mentioned previously, I have a little under 100g of very good quality sundried tomatoes, but they're not packed in oil. I can get olives (green or black, but not Kalamata, I don't think), olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice. I do not have access to capers or any kind of vinegar other than standard white. I have a decent-ish food processor and not terrible cooking skills. How do I combine all of this into a yummy spread?

posted by Tamanna to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

This recipe looks like it covers all your requirements! https://minimalistbaker.com/sun-dried-tomato-basil-olive-tapenade/

Hm, that's weird, the link doesn't show. I'll copy & paste here:

Ingredients:
2 cups pitted, drained olives (we love Kalamata and green olives)
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)*
1/3 cup tightly packed fresh basil
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp lemon juice (1 lemon yields ~3 Tbsp or 45 ml)

Instructions:

1.Add olives, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, olive oil (starting with lesser amount), and lemon juice to a food processor and mix/pulse to achieve a dip with some texture. Scrape down sides as needed

2.Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more sun-dried tomatoes for tomato flavor, basil for fresh herb flavor, lemon juice for acidity, olive oil to thin, or garlic for bite. Optional: Add a pinch of salt and pepper, though we didn’t find it needed it.

3. Serve immediately. This makes a great dip on its own or for pairing/layering with hummus. We also love it as a sandwich spread on a veggie sandwich like the Trashy Vegan Sandwich from our Everyday Cooking Cookbook, or our Chickpea Sunflower Sandwich.

4.Store in the refrigerator up to 7-10 days. Freeze for long-term storage, though best when fresh.
posted by itsflyable at 9:58 PM on February 1, 2024 [1 favorite]

soak your sundried tomatoes in olive oil for like at least 24 hours. gently saute garlic in olive oil til fragrant. combine 2 parts sundried tomatoes with 1 part green olives (the best you can find) in a food processor on Pulse. Add enough all of the oil you cooked your garlic in and enough of the oil you soaked your tomatoes in to make it the right consistency. Add some sort of acid, white vin or lemon would both work. A splash. Salt to taste, depending on the salinity of your olives. Bonus points for pulsing in oregano.
posted by Grandysaur at 10:02 PM on February 1, 2024

Response by poster: Oh, a question: does it need to be EVOO or is regular okay?
posted by Tamanna at 10:11 PM on February 1, 2024

Maybe give one a little nibble first to check whether they’re extremely salty. I had some dried sun dried tomatoes once that instructed me on the packet to soak them in water first to remove the salt that had been used in the drying process.
posted by chives at 2:45 AM on February 2, 2024

does it need to be EVOO or is regular okay?
Regular olive oil is ok, it is what most commercial tapenades use.
posted by mumimor at 3:20 AM on February 2, 2024

I have a recipe for a sun-dried tomato dip which has always gone over HUGE with friends - one person once said "I just want to face-plant into it."

For that amount, the recipe would be:

the tomatoes
1 cup water
5 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
3/4 teaspoons dried oregano
3/4 teaspoons dried thyme
3/4 cup olive oil

The beauty of this recipe is, you use your microwave. You dump the tomatoes, garlic, oregano, thyme, and water into a microwave-safe dish, cover with plastic wrap, poke a hole in the plastic as a steam vent, and nuke it for 8 minutes. Take it out, uncover and stir it around, then put the plastic wrap back on and nuke it another 8 minutes. Take out again, uncover and let it cool down a bit, making sure most of the water has been absorbed. Then you dribble about 2 Tablespoons of the oil over the top, cover it back over and nuke it another 5 minutes. Take it out, uncover, let it cool down, and then dump it into a food processor with the rest of the oil and blitz it until smooth.

If you wanted to make it a tomato tapenade, I'd simply add a handful or two of pitted olives to the food processor with the tomatoes at that step. But I've always just used the original recipe and gotten raves.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:43 AM on February 2, 2024 [2 favorites]

I would like to direct your attention to the French délice de tomates séchées. Here's the base recipe:

Ingredients
1 dozen dried tomatoes
A large handful of cashew nuts (or pistachios, or pine nuts...)
3 tbsp. tablespoon of olive oil (any oil will work if you like the taste, or non-taste, of the oil)
About fifteen pitted green olives
1 small clove of garlic
1/2 tsp. tablespoon of cider vinegar
1 nice pinch of whichever combination of herbes de Provence you enjoy
Black pepper
(I also add a couple slices of raw red onion and a spoonful of capers)

Instructions
1. Fill a bowl with water and soak the dried tomatoes, rubbing them well with your hands to remove as much salt as possible (if they've been salted for drying and preserving). Let them rehydrate for around twenty minutes. Taste a tomato to check the amount of salt. If it's not too salty, it's good! If not, continue scrubbing.
2. Drain the tomatoes well.
3. Put all the ingredients in the bowl of a blender. Mix well, and scrape the edges regularly so that all the ingredients are perfectly mixed and the mixture is homogeneous.
4. Taste the tapenade and adjust according to your tastes (more pepper, or salt, etc.).
5. Pour the tapenade into an airtight container. You can keep it for up to 7 days refrigerated, or freeze it if you're making a lot. If you freeze it, make sure to give it a good mix when you thaw it.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 5:31 AM on February 2, 2024

Re EVOO vs refined, or whatever you have on-hand: Taste your oil. Lots of olive oils, especially "Extra Virgin", can be very peppery and sharp, and that's great if you want that flavor, but it can be overpowering if that's all you use in a dressing or tapenade or whatever.

So, yeah, sip a spoonful and alter to as appropriate.
posted by straw at 9:18 AM on February 2, 2024

When my sundried tomatoes have gotten really extra dry and leathery they won't blend well. In that case I put them in a dish with a tablespoon or two of water and microwave them. Let them sit in the hot water for 20 minutes or so. Good results.
posted by Miko at 9:31 AM on February 3, 2024