Peeling and Seeding Tomatoes
We have such an abundance of tomatoes this season!
This week, 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 housekeeper, Enma, and I, gathered all the newly-picked tomatoes, removed the skins, and separated the flesh and seeds. It was a multi-step process, but well-worth the effort for all the wonderful sauces I 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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- They are separated according to color on a large stainless steel tray – red, green, yellow, and orange.
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- Working in batches by color, Enma scores a shallow “x” on each tomato. Here she is making the first cut.
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- And here she makes the second cut for the “x” – using a sharp knife makes this very easy.
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- Here they are back on the tray – 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 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.
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- And place each tomato into an ice-bath. We used another large stainless steel bowl filled with ice-water.
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- The tomatoes cool in the ice as Enma removes the rest of the batch from the pot.
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- After the tomatoes are cool enough to touch, Enma peels off the skins, cut them in half and removes all the seeds – boiling them really makes this task so easy to do.
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- Here, Enma shows the interior of the tomato. 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.
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- Enma does this with all the red tomatoes…
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- While I boil another batch in this big pot – 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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- Sitting nearby is another batch – the red and green tomatoes.
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- Look at all the beautifully peeled and seeded outer parts of the tomatoes – so pretty.
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- These tomatoes are now cool and ready to be peeled and seeded – see the skins? They are already separating.
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- I start removing the peels – they come off so easily.
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- The outer parts are saved in the big bowl and placed into the refrigerator.
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- We kept them separated by color in the bowls. All the outer parts of the tomatoes will be used to make delicious tomato sauces. Any discarded tomato parts will go to my chickens.
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- Here they are a day later – I love the bold color of these orange tomatoes.
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- Here are the red tomatoes – these will all make such tasty and nutritious sauces. Tomatoes are a great source of lycopene, which is considered to have cancer preventing and reducing properties.
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- We just have to harvest many more tomatoes. How are your tomatoes doing this year? Please leave your comments in the section below – I love hearing from you.
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