Summer is here and tomatoes are starting to make their appearance. Not much makes me happier than a REAL tomato, you know, instead of those sad anemic grocery store tomatoes. I love them cut thick for BLTAs, sliced up with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and any which way, really. Another way to take advantage of these seasonal beauties is to preserve them. While I haven’t gotten to canning them yet, I did peel and deseed some for a homemade soup and it’s really quite easy!
First things first, stock up on some local tomatoes. Pick them from the garden if you have a green thumb or load up a basket of them at your farmers market. To prep for my soup, I bought about 4 lbs.
Put on a large pot of water to boil. While that gets going, wash your tomatoes well. I use the same method I do when washing leafy greens.
Next, core out the stem of the tomatoes and slice an ‘x’ shape into the bottom of each tomato.
Create an assembly like for blanching and shocking the tomatoes. You will need boiling water, a large ice bath and en extra bowl.
Using a slotted spoon, lower a tomato into the boiling water. Only let it sit in there for 15-30 seconds before removing it and putting it right into the ice bath. Remove from the ice water after 15-30 seconds. The goal is just to loosen the skins, not to cook the tomato.
After this, you will be able to slide the skins right off.
Repeat with all of them!
Next cut the tomatoes in half horizontally or just use your hands to pull them apart and work the seeds out.
It is best to do this over a bowl and strainer to reserve the juice. And don’t fret about getting every seed out. I’m convinced it’s not possible!
Then there you have them; ready to go to make soup, sauce or to be canned.
Are you a tomato fan?
What is your favorite way to eat them?
John J. says
Tomatoes – lycopene! Cut ’em up, feta cheese, oregano, balsamic and virgin oil. Opa!!
Tina Muir says
This is AWESOME! Thank you! I just purchased a big bag of tomatoes yesterday, and now I know how to make them ready to be canned 🙂 Perfect! I need to look up how to make them into paste though….I really didn’t like using a can yesterday! I am so glad you mentioned shopping local…..alllllll about that 🙂
Marjorie says
I do grow tomatoes, but I have not ventured into canning either. There is nothing better than a tomato sandwich – just some mayo and a sliced tomato on sliced bread with salt and pepper. I think it is a cultural thing – popular in the southeastern USA. You are right – for it to work, it has to be a “real” tomato.
When it is tomato season I slice ’em up and throw them in just about anything I am making. YUM!
And I am going to have to try using that basic H as a veggie wash. There are so many different uses for that stuff!
Brittany Dixon says
There are a ton of uses for it! Some farmers even use it to keep pests away. You can search and find a ton of other uses too!
Becky@TheSavedRunner says
I love tomatoes but I have never done anything like this. So what kind of soup or sauces do you make?
Jodi says
Just curious…why do you deseed the tomatoes? I can tomatoes, make salsa, spaghetti sauce, etc and NEVER deseed. I feel like you lose a ton of the juice!! Also, when doing the hot water bath I just drop my tomatoes in boiling water. Never have to use cold water. The skin comes right off. Just a a suggestion since that might allow you to leave a step out! I have also made salsa with skin and all from tomato. Taste the same. Very nice texture. I’m not a know it all about tomatoes, but my husband does raise a few acres of them.
Lauren B. says
I resort to using sundried tomatoes all winter long on my salads because the tomatoes are so pale and tasteless! So I’m really excited when summer rolls around! What soup recipe did you use? looks delicious!
Katrina-Marie says
Great tutorial Britanny- pretty too! 😉
I love to eat tomatoes, especially in soup or sauce form! My Nonna used to use this method, though us littles just believed she had the “magic touch” (her tomatoes peeled so easily while we busted ours apart lol)
Thanks for jogging my memory- not that it was a long time ago! 😉
PS. Prayers and hugs to you and Koda after last night’s episode!
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl says
This is super helpful, Brittany! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) says
They look delicious. I love that you peeled them. I’ve been doing that to peaches and freezing them for smoothies.
I used to hate tomatoes until this year, unless they were homegrown. I seriously think some grocery story tomatoes taste like fish…weird, I know. Anyway, as of May I’ve been obsessed with tomatoes, especially little cherry tomatoes.