Jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil - what to do with it

[lmarshal1]

I have a large jar of Costco sun-dried tomatoes in oil. What do I do with it? Thanks.

[Smithy]

Sun-dried tomatoes in oil are one of my standard, must-have condiments for easy food preparation. I don't know specifically about the Costco brand, so take these as general ideas. One note first: I almost always chop these, if they haven't already been chopped. Otherwise they tend to pull out of whatever filling I've put them into with a single bite. It's messy for the eater.

1. Brown and/or soften (as appropriate) chopped onions, chicken, garlic, and a green vegetable like celery or asparagus if you've the material and the inclination. You can use the packing oil for this if there's enough, or use it to supplement the cooking oil. Throw in the tomatoes (chopped) and toss all with cooked pasta - I generally use butterflies for this but I think any flattish pasta would work. Finish with chopped parsley. This is a wildly variable - that means flexible - dish. You can add shredded parmesan, or not. You can put cooked artichoke hearts (not marinated, but grilled if you can get them) in the mix. The possibilities are myriad, and that's why I like keeping roasted (or sun-dried) tomatoes, packed in oil, on hand.

2. Keep things simple and meatless. Toast some nuts, soften some garlic, warm the tomatoes, and toss with pasta.

3. Chop the tomatoes into small bits. Mix with herbs of your choice (parsley, rosemary, thyme, etc) and softened alliums of your choice (can you detect a theme here?) and bread crumbs or egg for binding, then roll up some flattened chicken thighs or breasts around it. Brown them in a pan until done. Use a little chicken broth, with or without wine, to make a pan sauce around those.

4. Alternatively, forget about stuffing the chicken. Just brown it in a pan, preferably with some of the tomato packing oil and flavor ingredients of your choice, then add the above-mentioned wine and/or broth and let it cook down. Toss some of the tomatoes into the sauce as it cooks down so they can be used as a topping for the chicken.

5. I'm on a chicken kick right now but these tomatoes can also be used with pork, beef, lamb or an assertive fish if you like the fish/tomato flavor combination. I've added them to the filling for a rolled pork loin and they're pretty good. I should note that if you're using them in a filling you need to drain them to get the filling texture right.

6. Use them to augment jarred spaghetti sauce, if you like, or to boost a pallid lasagne filling.

7. Put them in stuffed eggplant or stuffed peppers, along with ground meat, flavorings as noted above, and hefty amounts of bread crumbs and/or eggs, with a good cheesy topping.

8. You can use them to augment Mexican food too; although I think that would take, say, enchilada sauce into a nontraditional direction, it would still be good.

By the way - you don't have to use an entire jar at once. I think for any given dinner, cooking for two with (theoretically) leftovers, I'll use around 1/2 to 1 cup's worth. The rest can be stored in the fridge - make sure the tomatoes are still covered with oil, and if necessary you can add more olive oil. I don't know how long the food safety experts would say you can store this safely in the fridge. If you worry about that (I do, some) you can also portion it into smaller containers and freeze them. The oil congeals rather than freezing, but there's no fear of bacteria growing over the course of months.

I'm being vague about proportions because I kind of wing it on these things. If that's a bit too vague, let me know and I'll try to be more specific! Enjoy those tomatoes! I think, once you see how much they add to your cookery possibilities, you'll want to keep them on hand.

[Smithy]

Oh, another of my favorites: Steam cut-up broccoli, then toss with toasted pine nuts, chopped sun-dried tomatoes and some oil, and a vinegar or your choice to adjust the flavorings. Balsamic vinegar works well. I've seen this done with raisins in the mix also, but I forget to add them about half the time.

[Beebs]

Throw them in a tapenade or make a sundried tomato pesto. Sundried tomato pesto is really tasty in a sandwich.

[MelissaH]

I also like bits of them on pizza.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I like to incorporate pieces of sundried tomato in oil into my Focaccia. And the oil that they come in is also beautifully flavoured stuff - it adds a sweet hint of tomato to whatever you'd normally use olive oil in....

[Heartsurgeon]

add a couple of tablespoons to rice when cooking.

add to bean dishes (cold bean salads)

use to make goat cheese, basil, sun dried tomato pizza

add to pasta

add feta, olives, sunbdried tomato, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil and israeli couscous - makes a great cold pasta salad.

i go through a costco jar about twice a year. the stuff lasts forever in the fridge.

Edited March 4, 2013 by Heartsurgeon (log)

[lmarshal1]

Thanks for your suggestions! They all sound good. Thanks too for comments on storing the opened jar. I'll comment later when I've had time to try your ideas. lkm

[Paul Bacino]

Possible to use in egg dishes..frittata comes to mind!!

[SylviaLovegren]

Put them on the compost heap...I loathe sundried tomatoes. ;0

Big help, huh?

[forever_young_ca]

I always have a jar of sun dried tomatoes in my fridge and often buy the Costco brand. I take boneless chicken thighs (or breasts if you prefer), flatten slightly. Spread some goat cheese, chopped sd tomatoes, and basil on top of the chicken. Roll up and secure with a toothpick. Put in a baking pan, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake at 350 until cooked. It is an easy and tasty after work supper.

I also add them to pasta sauce as well as a flavour booster to tomato sauce. They have a million uses.

The Costco jar will have a best before date on the label. Just make sure that the tomatoes are covered in the oil and they will keep very well in the fridge after opened.

[The J]

I pretty much have one of those jars in my fridge at all times, right next to the Costco jar of marinated artichoke hearts.

They're great for a quick pasta dinner -- cook the tomatoes on low heat to get the oil liquid (since it will congeal in the fridge), then add garlic, onions, black olives and red pepper. Toss with pasta, finish with some fresh basil and grated parm.

I second the sun-dried tomato pesto -- it's great for potato salad too.

Chop them up and add them to sausage and peppers, or roasted chicken and potatoes.

Add to risotto.

I will also take a few, heat them just enough to render the oil off, and use the oil in bread or pizza dough. In order to ensure the tomatoes don't go to waste, I put them on a piece of crusty bread with a little goat cheese and snack away.

[huiray]

Put them on the compost heap...I loathe sundried tomatoes. ;0

Big help, huh?

Just curious - Why?

[huiray]

As others have said here, I like them in creating some pasta sauces too, amongst other things. I tend to want to have the "tomato-ey" flavor they bring in the forefront (or as a major taste), however, rather than blending them in with a great number of things - so I might sauté some shallots or onions, maybe a small amount of garlic, add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes with its oil into the sauté plus something greenish that is complementary (fennel bulb is nice), toss all around, add some water or stock or even some fresh tomatoes as well, toss some more and then add in my pasta. I much prefer flattish pasta for this - linguine would be perfect for me. :-) [Adding in something like shrimp towards the end is also nice...]