Putting Up Tomatoes on the Run

10 September 2007 by Jean Johnson


Gone is the end of the week when I was in the mood to roast tomatoes and make fussy hors d’oeuvres. It’s Monday morning, the day is supposed to be in the high 80s at least, and I’m trying to get to work.

But there are still more ripe tomatoes than I can use. So it’s to the freezer they go. Whole and just as they are–well okay, there was one really big one that I cored, but the rest of the tennis ball sizes went in the bag as is. These turn into the equivalent of stewed tomatoes when thawed and added to soups, pots of beans, or whatever–and you can slip the skins off then if you want.

Even if you don’t have a garden or more tomatoes from your neighbors or farmer’s market than you know what to do with, the odd tomato that you can’t eat can be popped in a baggie and frozen for later. It’s a great way to keep from wasting food–which helps the planet and our bankbooks.

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  1. 2 Responses to “Putting Up Tomatoes on the Run”

  2. I roasted my cherry tomatoes overnight in the oven at 175 degrees, let them cool, and put some in olive oil and refrigerated them to be eaten in a week or so and froze the rest for later use.

    Because they’ve been roasted, their flavors should be intensified. I’ll keep that in mind as I use the frozen ones (in sauces, for example) during the winter. Other ideas for the roasted and frozen cherry tomatoes?

    By Anonymous on Sep 26, 2007

  3. Thanks for the thoughts. And check out the entry on Roasted Tomatoes and Squash. I think I even mentioned cherry toms there, although not doing anything so luxurious as dunking those dried babies in olive oil. As my cat Iris would say: “Meow.”

    And certainly when you dry something, letting the water evaporate, you are left with the guts of the matter and flavors that are ratcheted right up there. Sort of like one of those zip drive files–all condensed down like Campbell’s soup.

    Clearly we’re light years away from prefab canned stuff here, though. And as far as pushing the flavors even more what comes to mind for me is wine. Red wine. Putting a heathy glug of it in whatever saucy or stewy thing you end up making as the days grown shorter.

    Along with the wine maybe a smashed anchovy or two to twang things even further.

    Hmm. I can smell the pot simmering even now.

    By Jean Kirsten Brown Johnson on Sep 27, 2007

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