How to Freeze Tomatoes

We very ambitiously bought a 5kg box of tomatoes the other day, as my intention was to make gazpacho. But I’ve been distracted with other interesting dishes and haven’t gotten around to it yet. In the meantime, we’ve been using up the tomatoes steadily, but not quite fast enough. And as we are travelling starting this weekend, and I have to use up everything before we go.

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My husband kept requesting that I make a Hollandse Tomatensoep met Balletjes (Dutch tomato soup with meatballs), which I finally did. See the recipe here. But after the soup and the tomato jam, which I made for my shortbread cookie recipe, we still had a lot of tomatoes left! arggghh.. but good argghh. 😉

When speaking with my mother about her tomato soup recipe, I explained my dilemma. Of course, mothers know best, right?  Especially mothers like my own, who are great cooks and very economising in the kitchen. She told me to freeze the tomatoes for later use! Uh, duh.. why hadn’t I thought of that before?

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Anyway, she’s promised to give me her “how to freeze” vegetable book, which she no longer needs or uses.. so I’ll be learning more about this and how and which vegetables are good for freezing.

In the meantime, I took care of my extra tomatoes. This couldn’t be easier! And it’s also a great idea for when tomatoes are in season, to buy them in bulk, freeze them and use during the winter.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • glass or plastic, sealable containers for the freezer (or plastic ziplock bags can also work)
  • a large pot
  • water
  • a knife
  • tomatoes (of course, since we are freezing them, right?)

Please see the “recipe” below for instructions.

How to Freeze Tomatoes
Author: The Saffron Girl
Ingredients
  • glass or plastic, sealable containers for the freezer (or plastic ziplock bags can also work)
  • a large pot
  • water
  • a knife
  • tomatoes (of course, since we are freezing them, right?)
Instructions
  1. Depending on the number of tomatoes you have, you may have to do this in batches.
  2. Take a large pot and fill with filtered water.
  3. Over high heat, bring to a boil.
  4. Turn heat off.
  5. Carefully place the tomatoes inside the water, one by one, with the help of a ladle if necessary, so you don’t get burned.
  6. Let the tomatoes sit in the water for about 10 minutes.
  7. Then pour the contents out over a colander.
  8. Allow the tomatoes to cool enough for handling with your bare hands.
  9. With a knife, peel the tomatoes. This is super easy, since the tomatoes are now “blanched”.
  10. Figure out how many tomatoes you want to place in each container. I used 6 per container.
  11. Cut the tomatoes in half and with your hands slightly squeeze out any juice.
  12. Place into the container, seal and freeze.
  13. They can last months in the freezer.
  14. Simply thaw out when ready to use.

 

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