Peeling and Seeding Tomatoes for Sauce
How did your tomatoes do this season? I have such an abundance of tomatoes at my Bedford, New York farm.
Yesterday, I decided it was time to start preparing some of the tomatoes for homemade sauces. I love making lots of tomato sauce. Not only is it delicious and nutritious, but it can be stored in containers in the freezer for any time the craving hits - it's another great way to preserve the summer's bounty. My housekeepers, Enma and Sanu, gathered all the newly-picked tomatoes, removed the skins, separated the flesh and seeds, and extracted the fresh, tasty juices. It was a multi-step process, but well worth the effort for all the wonderful sauces and refreshing drinks we will enjoy the rest of the year.
Here are some photos.
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- This is our first big bounty of tomatoes – look at all the different colors and sizes.
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- We filled our Polaris ATV with trays and trays of fresh tomatoes from my garden. This year, we had more than 130 tomato plants.
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- These cherry tomatoes are great snacks – I am sure they will go quickly.
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- Once they’re picked, the tomatoes are placed on my kitchen counter – I love seeing them all when I get home at the end of the day.
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- Many of the tomatoes are eaten fresh and used for sandwiches and salads. Another large batch is saved for making delicious sauce. These tomatoes are separated according to color – red, green, yellow, and orange.
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- Working in batches by color, Sanu scores a shallow “x” on each tomato.
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- Here are some already done – look at the “x” mark on the bottom of each tomato.
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- The next step is to place them in a pot of boiling water – just long enough for the skins to soften and loosen.
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- This only takes a minute or two. Once they are soft, and the skins start to separate, using a slotted spoon, or spoon colander, remove the tomatoes from the boiling water. Here is Sanu transferring the tomatoes into a large ice bath.
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- I love these giant stainless steel bowls – they are perfect for this process. Be sure to check out my collection of stainless steel bowls exclusively at Macy’s.
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- The tomatoes cool in the ice as Sanu removes the rest of the batch from the pot.
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- Next, they’re removed from the ice-water. These tomatoes are now ready to be peeled and seeded – see the skins? They are already separating.
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- Enma takes each tomato and hand peels the skins – look how easy this is to do – boiling them really helps.
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- Here is another look at how easily the skins are removed.
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- At this time, Enma also hulls the leftover parts of the stem at the top of each tomato.
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- And then each tomato is dropped into another big, stainless steel bowl. Enma does this with all the red tomatoes.
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- Next, the tomatoes are cut in half to expose all the seeds.
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- And then Enma removes all the seeds inside.
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- Look at all the beautifully peeled and seeded outer parts of the tomatoes – so pretty.
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- Sanu boils and cools another batch – these are yellow and orange tomatoes. This method is very helpful when working with another person, so one can poach the tomatoes while the second person peels them.
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- And here is a batch of green tomatoes just coming out of the pot.
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- Sanu peels and seeds the yellow and orange tomatoes.
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- And then moves onto the green tomatoes – any discarded tomato parts will go to my chickens.
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- It takes some time to get everything peeled and seeded, but Enma and Sanu use a production line process to complete the task efficiently.
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- I love the colors of these gorgeous tomatoes. Once they are all seeded, the outer parts will be saved in the big bowl and placed into the refrigerator until I am able to make my delicious sauce.
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- Nothing goes to waste – all the juicy flesh is drained to get the wonderful tomato juice.
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- Look at all the juice that is saved from the tomatoes. The tomato juice made from fresh, raw tomatoes is a great source of lycopene, which is considered to have cancer preventing and reducing properties. This measuring cup is from my collection at Macy’s.
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- Enma runs this flesh through a sieve to get every last drop.
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- And then pours the juice into quart-sized plastic containers – no seeds – just pure, delicious tomato juice! I can’t wait to enjoy a glass of refreshing, organic juice – straight from my garden.
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