Summer-Fresh Tomato Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What can I do with lots of fresh tomatoes? ›

Storing and Handling Guidelines

Tomatoes stored at refrigeration temperatures below 41 °F will have approximate shelf life of 5 days. Tomatoes stored at temperatures under 75 °F will have approximate shelf life of 1 to 2 days. Storing tomatoes above 75° F is not recommended.

Tomatoes may be frozen raw or cooked, whole, sliced, chopped, or puréed. Tomatoes do not need to be blanched before freezing. Frozen tomatoes are best used in cooked foods such as soups, sauces and stews as they become mushy when they're thawed.

Tomatoes will last in the freezer for about six months. After that, they start to lose their flavor and might become freezer burnt. When you're ready to use your frozen tomatoes, just let them thaw at room temperature. Once they've defrosted, the skins peel right off!

Freezing tomatoes is the easiest way to keep ripe tomatoes until you're ready to use them. You don't have to peel them first—in fact, the act of freezing them itself makes the tomatoes insanely easy to peel! —and you can freeze as many or as few at a time as you like.

A 25-pound box of tomatoes will yield about 7 quarts of tomato sauce. To make sauce for canning, in the largest pot you have, add as many chopped tomatoes as will fit.

Crush the tomatoes by hand or in a food processor or blender, depending on the consistency you're going for. Add the crushed tomatoes to an airtight, freezer-safe container, and transfer it to the freezer.

In a salad or sandwich, you don't need peeled tomatoes. But, if you're making a fresh tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes, the tomatoes should be peeled, cored, and seeded. The result will be a smoother sauce without any seeds, core, or peel in it.

Should you add sugar to fresh tomato sauce? ›

Add Sugar

The goal is to amplify the natural sweetness of the tomatoes, not to turn the sauce sugary, so start with a pinch and work up if needed.

Why would you peel tomatoes? The tomato skin is a different texture from the tomato flesh, and will remain so in sauces and purées—you'll get tiny chunks of skin instead of an uniformly smooth mixture. Moreover, the tomato skin is heavy in a kind of nutrient called flavonols, which impart a bitter flavor.

If the tomatoes are not yet ripe, they are best stored on the counter for a few days until they ripen. (You'll know they're ripe when they're fragrant and give a little bit to the touch.) Once they're ripe, either consume them or go ahead and put them in the refrigerator to preserve their freshness.

"You're essentially zapping flavor and texture from a tomato when you refrigerate it," says Gregory Lofts, the former deputy food editor at Martha Stewart Living. Lofts also points out that tomatoes very quickly take on odors from other foods in the refrigerator, which can further degrade their quality and taste.

Freezing is a great method of preservation for a variety of tomatoes, including whole tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, tomato juice, tomato paste, and tomato chutneys. When you're ready to use them, pull them out of the freezer and thaw them at room temperature or in a bath of cold water.

Freezing: Freezing is a simple way to preserve whole tomatoes. Simply wash the tomatoes, blanch them in boiling water for a minute or two, then transfer them to a bowl of ice water to cool. Once the tomatoes are cool, remove the skins, place them in freezer-safe containers, and freeze.

To store the tomatoes in the refrigerator or freezer, place them in a zip-top bag and squeeze any extra air out. Put them in the refrigerator for up to a month or stick them in the freezer. To store tomatoes in oil, sterilize a mason jar by boiling it for 10 minutes.