| Home  Reading Room  Vegetables  Tomatoes Tomato Recipes When you get a bumper crop of tomatoes, you may find that 
you just can't eat them quickly enough so you need to preserve 
them to use later. Here are some suggestions.  
 
 
Removing tomatoes skins 
 - plunge the tomatoes into boiling water for about 1 minute. Take 
them out and put in cold water. You will find the skins 
are quite easy to peel off. 
                     Tomato Chutney6lbs ripe chopped tomatoes with skins removed
 1lb peeled and finely chopped onions
 1/2 pint white vinegar
 1 tsp salt
 1 to 2 tsp paprika
 12oz sugar
 Put the tomatoes and onion 
                      into a pan, bring to the boil then, stirring occasionally 
                      as needed, simmer until reduced to a thick pulp. Add half 
                      the white vinegar, salt and spices and bring back to the 
                      boil. Simmer until the mixture thickens. Add the remaining 
                      vinegar and sugar to the mixture, bring back to the boil 
                      again, simmer and stir until the sugar dissolves, then continue 
                      to simmer until it reaches the required consistency, still 
                      stirring from time to time - this should be quite thick 
                      and not at all runny.  
Pot up in sterilised and warmed glass jar and cover with non metal lids - 
the acid in vinegar will attack metal. You can use either plastic 
screwtop lids or clear cellophane preserving covers. Wet 
them on one side then put them on the jar, wet side up. 
Use elastic bands or string to secure them. The seal should 
be airtight whether you use lids or cellophane covers. 
Keep the chutney for at least 2 months before use to allow it to mature. 
If the jars are  airtight and stored in cool dark conditions, they can last 
up to 2 or 3 years. Never use any preserves that have any mould in them. 
Green Tomato Chutney4lbs green chopped tomatoes with skins removed
 1-1/2 lbs peeled and finely chopped onions
 1lb cooking (sour) peeled, cored and chopped apples
 1 pt white vinegar
 8oz raisins and/or sultanas
 1oz root ginger
 8 chillies
 1 to 2 tsp salt
 1lb sugar
 
Put the tomatoes, onions, 
                      apples and half the vinegar in a saucepan and bring to the 
                      boil, then simmer until soft, stirring occasionally as needed. 
                      Put the ginger and chillies in a piece of muslin and tie. 
                      Hit them with a rolling pin (or other heavy object) to bruise 
                      and add to the mixture still in the muslin. Also add the 
                      raisins and/or sultanas. Bring back to the boil and simmer 
                      stirring from time to time as needed. When the mixture has 
                      thickened add the remaining vinegar, salt and sugar, bring 
                      back to the boil, stirring all the time. Reduce the heat 
                      when the sugar has dissolved and simmer until it reaches 
                      the right consistency. 
Pot up as for Red Tomato  Chutney above. 
More Tomato Recipes 
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