Blanching Tomatoes
Have you ever found yourself with more tomatoes than you could eat before they start going bad? I found myself in this exact situation. What to do? I decided to try my hand at blanching them. This way I could cook them down, freeze them and use them later and with no (or very little) waste!
What is blanching? Blanching is a cooking process wherein a food, usually a vegetable or fruit, is scalded in boiling water, removed after a brief, timed interval and finally plunged into iced water or placed under cold running water to halt the cooking process (Wikipedia).
Directions
- Clean the tomatoes;
- Score the bottoms;
- Cut the cores (centers) out;
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil;
- Prepare a bowl of ice water (i.e., an ice bath);
- Gently drop the tomatoes into the boiling water;
- Remove them after 20 seconds or after the skin starts to peel;
- Transfer the tomatoes into the ice water and let cool;
- Peel off the skin and cut into quarters.
At this point, you can place your quartered tomatoes into freezer bags for use later. If you want to make sauce, place the quartered tomatoes into a stock pot and cook (simmer) them until all the tomatoes break down. You can use the same pot you blanched them in; simply discard the water. This process takes hours so be prepared. Turn off the heat when the liquid starts to thicken. Let cool, transfer into storage containers and freeze.
Enjoy the fruits of your labor!
You might be wondering what you are going to do with these frozen, quartered tomatoes! We will cover that topic in more detail in a future blog post so stay tuned for that! In the meantime, check out our Homemade Bolognese recipe for one possible option.
Have any thoughts or comments to share? Tell us about them in the comments.
