My husband found some tomotoes growing in a field behind his office/shop. We went up and picked about 3 lbs or maybe even 5 lbs? Not really sure how much we have - but we have a lot of tomatoes. No way can we eat them in salads, burgers, blts, etc before they would go bad. Any suggestions on what I can do with them? And do you have a recipe to go with it?
thanks!
I wash them, toss them in a bag and put them in the freezer. When I want some for soup or sauce I pull them out. The skins just fall off when the thaw.
I have the same problem. So I made salsa (and thinking about canning them to preserved it), spaghetti sauce (freeze them), pizza sauce (freeze them). Those sauces use a lot of tomatoes ! And I'll steal some of the ideas just to blanched them and freeze them. I should have some more ripe from my garden any day now.
Spaghetti sauce, and or salsa would be what I would make with them all. Not sure about sauce recipe, something basic would work for me like olive oil, basil, oregano, and fresh garlic..Salsa, fresh salsa is wonderful and it only needs basic ingredients as well-onions, peppers, garlic, cilantro, and lime juice..
Make spaghetti sauce or salsa
You know what I love with fresh tomatoes is pico de gallo (sp?).
Diced/small tomatoes
Cilantro finely cut
Diced onion/small
Juice of lime (add half lime for every cup of salsa)
Salt/pepper
It's not only good for snacking with corn chips, but layer on egg salad or grilled cheese is outta this world.
You could also make Giadia/everyday Italian homeade sauce!
We have a plethora of tomatoes so we are doing a lot of chili. We've also put them in stir fry (add juice but really just vanish) and mixed them in with burger meat or make a tomato/chicken/onions thing. In the UK, they also eat grilled tomatoes for breakfast. Sauce is another good idea.
Chop them up and put them in a freezer bag and freeze them! Great for sauces, chili, pasta, etc. in the winter. I don't even blanch ours and they're fantastic!
I will sometimes just seed and dice them and freeze them that way...about 1 cup in a container. I can just take them out and put them in with store bought spaghetti sauce to make it a bit fresher, chunkier.
Depending on the type of tomato, you could also slice thin, brush with olive oil and then put them in a low oven to make sun-dried tomatoes. Yummy.
Have fun. D.
I grew tomatoes last summer and what I knew we couldn't eat before they spoiled were made into sauces and frozen. I made plain tomato sauce, tomato paste, spaghetti sauce, and pizza sauce. I froze it all in glass jars and used it through the winter.
I found recipes on-line for the plain tomato sauce and paste. Once that was made I portioned some out and made the pizza and spaghetti sauces I always make.
you can blanche and freeze them in freezer bags. Bring a pot of water to a boil, drop in tomatoes, let them boil for a minute (literally) - then scoop them out and drop them in a bowl of ice water immediately. Let them sit a minute, then all you have to do inpull the skin off (it makes the skin sort of slide right off) - Drop the tomatoes into a freezer bag, and pop them in the freezer.
You can use these bags over the winter in soups, stews, chili, cassaroles, spaghetti, etc.
I second the blanching and freezing idea, but first I would cut them at least into quarters, and maybe smaller. That way they'll be easier to use when you get ready. I use my frozen tomatoes in the fall/winter in spaghetti sauce or chili.
With crushed tomatoes, you can make a killer sauce for lasagna, spaghetti, or even a stew! I don't even like tomatoes but I use them for certain recipes.
