Recipe for Marinated Tomatoes
How to preserve tomatoes….
Anyone who has grown tomatoes will, if it’s gone according to plan know what it’s like to have a glut of them. All it takes is a decent Summer and you’ll have a vine full of bright red fruits with nowhere to go!
Now there’s only so many fresh tomatoes you can eat on a daily basis before the fun wears off, alfresco eating requires time and temperature which, if you live and work in England is easier said than done. Every year I would grow more tomatoes than I could eat fresh so preserving them became my only option.
Not a bad option, preserved tomatoes be it pieces, sauce, chutney, soup or relish is a great way of prolonging your tomato eating activities and feeling of Summer goodness. I have turned my tomatoes into all of the aforementioned but my absolute favourite is to preserve them in their natural state.
A half or quater of ripe plum tomato plucked from a coat of flavoured olive oil and devoured at room temperature is one of life’s great eating pleasures in my opinion. The flavours burst open when eaten and make such a fantastic addition to salads, pasta, bruschettas and grilled meat or fish they should be a staple of every household.
Put your oven on low, wash and quater your ripe tomatoes, remove the core and place in a bowl. Add a liberal splash of olive oil and red wine vinegar, balsamic is just as good. Season with plenty of rock salt and fresh pepper. Flavour with as much freshly sliced garlic as you like followed by a grate of fresh lemon rind. Now take a decent sized bunch of fresh thyme and pull the leaves away from the stems and mix into the tomatoes. Place the tomatoes on a tray and bake in the oven nice and slowly until just soft to the touch, no more, no less.
Place in a sterile jar, add a couple of torn bay leaves and cover with olive oil. Seal and leave for a few days to allow the flavours to combine.
Once opened keep in the refrigerator and make sure they are kept covered with the olive oil in order to prolong their shelf life. Simply take them out twenty minutes or so before you need them to allow the oil to come away from the fruit and take on the temperature of the room. Keep the oil and use for flavouring your next dish. Here’s some I use with a mozzarella salad…
Preserved Tomatoes with Basil Panna Cotta and Mozzarella
This is a greta idea - I’ve got tomatoes growing now so I may give this a go.
I actually bought some peppers the other day that I’m guessing were done like this.
Brilliant !
Best
Rod
July 12, 2010 @ 8:23 am
Great post, Miles. And perfect timing as I will be receiving buckets of tomatoes with my CSA (community supported agriculture) share soon. I’m never sure what to do with my bounty, beyond eating tomatoes with every meal. I’m definitely going to be trying this and thank you for the flavoring tips. I’m never sure about my herbs and spices and you always have the answers!
By the way, I’ve just spent some time reading up on all the past posts I’ve missed during this past couple of weeks. Your week in pictures is always a highlight for me and I loved the black and white journey through your kitchen. Those were some of your absolute best photos, Miles. Wonderful stuff!
Cid and Miles — I love coconut water and use it in my morning smoothies. It’s not only refreshing, but very healthy. My 20-something son told me that his friends (not him, of course) drink a big bottle of coconut juice after a night of partying. He says it’s the ultimate hangover cure.
:-)
Melissa
July 12, 2010 @ 4:43 pm
Miles,
Thanks for this - I’m definitely marking this one for harvest time. I’m hoping for a bounty that rivals last summer (loads of tomatoes), though it’s not looking so promising this year. New Mexico needs rain.
Cheers,
Karen
July 12, 2010 @ 5:33 pm
Miles,
I’m a big fan of these although I’m never sure how long to bake them for…. like everything else it’s a question of what type of oven and keeping a careful watch the first time. We get all sorts of preserved tomatoes in the deli but I like these the most because they are moist and have an excellent flavour…… some of the sun dried tomatoes are a bit leathery but lend themselves to being chopped and put into bread recipes.
Let’s hear it for the panna cotta in all it’s guises. Friends of mine have been terrified (I’d have said frightened but that doesn’t fully describe their true feelings
) of using gelatin. I, on the other hand only ever keep sheet gelatin in which is so easy to use and I’ve never had a problem with it. Your dish looks so delicious, I could eat one now in the middle of the afternoon.
Cid
p.s. If you find you have a huge glut of tomatoes this year and don’t know what to do with them…. let me just say that I and my girl friends would love to have access to your private polly tunnel…. where did you say it was?
July 12, 2010 @ 6:36 pm
Rod,
Yep, good for peppers too….
Miles
July 12, 2010 @ 8:47 pm
Melissa,
Nice to hear from you, I envy that CSA bag of goodies you keep getting. Try these, the flavour intensifies with time.
Miles
July 12, 2010 @ 8:49 pm
Cid,
No gelatine in those little beauties…agar agar-it’s the way forward
Miles
July 12, 2010 @ 8:50 pm
Karen,
Great to hear from you, we’ve just had some rain which is long overdue even for England. My lawn was looking like a Mexican desert
Good luck with your harvest!
Miles
July 12, 2010 @ 8:51 pm
A lovely Caprese!
One of my personal favorites which I will soon be enjoying along with lots of fruits of the sea - dining while overlooking the canal and basin. And from homegrown ingredients - can’t be beat!
I second the vote for the balsamic vinegar and would possibly experiment around with peppers - sometimes using green peppercorns or white instead of the usual black.
Lovely!
Laura
July 13, 2010 @ 12:08 pm
Laura,
Glad you like it, a classic I know but why not? Agree with the peppercorns, I’m using some Jamaican allspice at the moment-for dusting oven dried pineapple, it’s lovely.
Enjoy your ‘fruit de mer’
Miles
July 13, 2010 @ 10:23 pm