2020 was a bumper crop year for tomatoes. This was not only evident from the many tomatoes that came from my garden, but from my neighbors as well. As I walked around my neighborhood, I couldn’t help but laugh to myself at the many boxes of orphaned tomatoes at the ends of driveways and accompanying signs which pleaded, “Please take as many as you like!” In a previous post, I wrote “How to plant and maintain tomato plants,” so I will now share what to do with all those tomatoes at the end of the season.
Since I will make recipes that start with a tomato sauce as the base ingredient, I prepare the tomatoes ahead of time. The first step in this preparation is peeling the tomatoes.
In recent years, I’ve been more vigilant about washing any of the vegetables I use in cooking, even those coming from my garden. So before I even blanch them in boiling water, I place them in the kitchen sink with a couple of drops of Dawn dishwashing liquid. I rinse them off and let them dry on a towel while I prepare the peeling process.
Bring a 2-quart pot of water to a boil. You will also need to ready a large bowl of cold water.
With a large spoon, place a tomato in the boiling water. After about 20-30 seconds, take the tomato out and place it in the cold water bath.
After the tomato has cooled enough to handle, use a paring knife to core the tomato. Flip the tomato over and make a small cut in the bottom. The peel should slip off the rest of the tomato. Use the paring knife again to cut off any remaining peel.
The next step in making a basic tomato sauce is to remove the seeds and as much water as possible. I’ll be blogging about that process in my next blog.
