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preserving tomatoes
Hi folks
I have lots of lovely tomatoes that I want to dry. I'm going to rely on the oven rather than the sun. Does anyone have any tips on storage and how long will they keep? I know I can freeze toms but the flavour is never as good, and I love the intense tomato-y taste of them fried on toast. I don't want to make pickles, chutneys and the like.
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Hi, greenjude, hope you don't mind me joining your thread, I'd also like to know how to dry toms in the oven and how long they keep. I do make chutney's, sauces etc... but am always looking out for new ways to preserve.
I'm sure someone will come along soon and post helpful advise
How about making tomato sauce? When I get an over-abundance, I chop an onion or two, add chopped garlic, fry until soft in olive oil, add and fry-off a bit of balsamic vinegar then finally lots of chopped tomatoes, fresh herbs (mainly oregano) and reduce until nice and thick. The result can then be frozen without any detectable loss of taste and later used to top pizza, toast, or as a base for an absolute multitude of other dishes. Wouldn't be without it.
You could make a roasted tomato passata. Half the tomatoes and sprinkle with a little salt and tiny sprinkle of sugar and some herbs of your choosing. You need to roast them on a low heat for an hour. Then blitz them in a blender and seive the puree to make it smooth. Then put the puree in steralized jars. Then stand the jars on a tea towl in a deep saucepan bring the pan to slowly to a simmer then keep at a simmer for 10 mins of so. The jars should then keep for 12 months.
To oven dry tomatoes:
Half the tomatoes and scoop out the pips. Sprinkle with a few grains of salt and sugar leave for 10-15 mins. Then put the tomatos cut side down on an oven rack with a tray underneath to catch drips. Bake in a low oven for anything from 4-10 hours depending on your tomatoes. When the tomatoes are crinkly and mostly dry but not burnt put them into steralized jars. sprinkle with either balsalmic or white wine vinegar then top the jars with oil making sure all the tomaotes are covered. My recipe book says they should keep for 4 months. Once you open a jar keep in the fridge and use within 6 weeks. (although if you're like me you will struggle to make them last that long!)
Hi Zoomer, you're welcome to join in.
Hi Bob. That sounds beautiful. I like things that freeze.
Hi Doogie. Those recipies both sound wonderful. To be honest, I tend to avoid the faff of sterilising jars, which is why I wanted to freeze. On the other hand, this sounds worth the effort. I don't think mine would last 6 weeks either!
I've got 26 plants of 8 varieties, so there's plenty to work with. (And I've only got myself to feed, but I love tomatoes!)
Hi Greenjuice. Honestly steralizing jars is not that much of a faff. I keep any jam jars we use, wash them in hot soapy water, rinse, then they go in the oven at the same time at the tomatoes. Easy peasy!
Alternatively you could freeze the passata I guess, I imagine it would freeze quite well.
Hi Doogie. Yes, you're right. I don't eat jam, but jars from savoury stuff would be just as good. I might try both methods to see if there's any difference in flavour. It's a matter of having enough time, as usual! And I'll certainly try your method of drying. It'll have to be a very big jar to last more than 6 weeks!