Freezing Tomatoes

I picked up my Bountiful Basket the previous weekend and happen to come home with 12 large tomatoes.  I don't know how you feel about tomatoes but I love the way they smell and taste.  However, I can't eat 12 large tomatoes very quickly.  I decided the best thing to do was to freeze them so that I could use them later. 

Freezing tomatoes is not all that difficult and the whole process took me about half an hour.  The first thing you do is rinse your tomatoes and while they are draining fill a large pot with water and a little salt.  Next, set the temperature to high and watch for it to begin boiling.  In the meantime, take a large bowl and fill it with ice and water.  Ok, so when the water begins to boil you drop in the tomatoes.  Now, don't walk away!    This part goes fast.  Set the timer to about a 1 minute, maybe a minute and a half.  Watch for the peal to begin to come off the tomatoes.  Once that happens, as quick as you can, put the tomatoes in the ice bath to stop the cooking process.  I used a large soup ladle. That was not so hard was it?

The next part is just as easy.  Once the tomatoes are cool enough to touch. Just peal the tomato skin off the tomato.  You might try using a paper towel but I found it just as easy to peal it off with my fingers.  Ok, so you are half way done.

Now, find a bowl and put a colander on top of it.  You want the bowl to collect juices that drain out of the tomatoes.  Next, take a tomato, cutting board and knife and slice the tomato in half, cutting across the top of the tomato where the stem was connected.  Time to remove the seeds and juices.  You can just squeeze the tomato over the colander but I found it useful to take a tea spoon and run it inside the sections of the tomato to clean it out.  You might be wondering why you do this.  Well, it has to do with keeping as many nutrients in the tomato as possible.  The longer the tomato has to cook to get rid of the juice the fewer nutrients in your dish.  It is just better to get rid of it now.  However, don't throw away that yummy goodness.  It all goes in to the colander.  You can freeze the strained liquid for soups later or just drink it, but I actually found it useful while making my marinara sauce.  More on that later.  

Frozen Juice from 11 Tomatoes

Once you have cleaned all your tomatoes and have given them enough time to drain, take them and put them in a larger freezer bag.  You can vacuum seal the bag or close the bag leaving just enough to put in the end of a straw and suck as much air as you can out.  Next, quickly seal the bag.  I used the straw method and it worked very well.  Lastly, label and date your freezer bag and place it in the freezer.

11 Frozen Tomatoes from a 1 Gallon Bag

How simple was that?  Now you have tomatoes for soups, goulash, casseroles or marinara sauce any time you need them.  Lastly, don't forget that yummy juice, drink it or put it in a bag or bowl and freeze it to use for later.  It works very well to use to thin out sauces that get too thick. 

My Homemade Marinara Sauce

I know what you are thinking...  Where are all the pictures showing the process?  I know, I know.  I froze my tomatoes before I decided to begin blogging again, so I did not take any pictures. For now you will just have to take my word that it works.  When I go through the process again I will take pictures to add to this post. 

In the meantime...

Happy Cooking!