My boss gave me a jar of homemade dried tomatoes yesterday. I don’t think they’re like what typical “sun-dried” tomatoes are, though - they’re just cut into slices and dried, and there’s a very thin film of oil on them. They’re pretty crunchy and they taste strongly of fresh basil.
What can I do with them? I’d like to be able to incorporate them into a pasta recipe of some kind, but I don’t know what kind of sauce would work with these things.
Any ideas?
What sauce? Shred them with basil and mix into pasta and a little oil. Or make a salad with them. Or just eat them on their own.
They sound like a fantastic bruschetta topping - or have’em with toast, if you fancy being even simpler 
I was thinking of doing something like that, but their crunchiness might make that a little strange. How could I soften them up a little first without losing their taste?
Perhaps just soak them for a while in a decent olive oil?
Forgive the lack of measurements… This recipe comes straight from my noggin. I just eyeball everything.
2 or 3 chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 package of crimini shrooms
half a handful of your dried tomatoes
evaporated milk or half & half
sherry cooking wine
herbs of your choice
Brown chicken in skillet in a bit of olive oil as you reconstitute your tomatoes in hot water. Remove chicken & toss in shrooms. If needed, add a couple pats of butter as the mushrooms cook. Deglaze pan with sherry, adding about 1/2 a cup & put chicken back in. Pour in the dairy, just enough to make a creamy sauce, not enough to drown other ingredients. Put in the now reconstituted & drained tomatoes. Let cook on med-low heat until mixture has thickened to desired consistency. Add herbs, salt & pepper to taste. Toss with your preferred pasta & enjoy, or stuff into puff pastry (like a calzone) and bake at 400 until golden brown.
Or, again eyeballing it-
Place in food processor: sun-dried tomatoes, basil, oil, olives, capers, anchovies, onions, oregano (in any combination you want)
Blend into a tapenade. Smear over crusty bread, and munch with wine. Yum!!
I forgot to mention that the chicken/mushroom stuff is one of my favorite things to make. It was inspired by a Stouffer’s frozen dinner that I had about 10 years ago. Mine tastes better, by the way. 
In chili of course. What better use?