Our weather is turning cooler. Our tomato plants are still providing an abundant harvest. We've been eating loads of tomato salads, sandwiches, vegetable medleys, and pasta sauces. And now today for lunch I turned about a dozen tomatoes into a pot of fresh tomato soup.
I used the blender to puree the whole tomatoes, skin included. Then, heated the puree in a saucepan along with fresh garlic, salt, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese until warmed through. Delicious and fresh-tasting, with a bit of natural sweetness. And very, very quick and easy.
What are your favorite ways to use up fresh tomatoes?
We had BLTs for dinner and I think that may be my favorite way to use them. :) That might not be the answer you are looking for, though. I made a fresh tomato pasta sauce when we had LOTS of tomatoes from my in-laws earlier this summer. My husband likes to freeze them, too. He also sometimes dehydrates the cherry tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteHi Kris,
DeleteI do love BLT sandwiches. If I pick up some bacon, I think those will be on next week's menu.
Sounds delicious! My favorite way to use them is in the fermented salsa from the Zero Waste Chef blog. In the middle of winter, I can open a jar of that and have the fresh taste of tomatoes, along with the nutritious probiotics it supplies. Mmm!
ReplyDeleteHi Cat,
DeleteI've never had fermented salsa before. Does it taste very different from salsa made unfermented? A great bonus is you get some good probiotics.
All interesting ideas for tomatoes. The latest thing I made was a tomato, artichoke salad.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a tasty salad, Live and Learn!
DeleteWhat a yummy-sounding soup! Great idea. We don't generally have home-grown tomatoes, so don't have the overage you ladies deal with. However, our favorite fresh tomato dish, like Cat's, is salsa. When tomatoes are really ripe, I find there's not a tomato dish I like any better than a salsa cruda. I like to make it with tomatoes, onions, garlic, cilantro, green chiles, oil and vinegar or lemon/lime juice, a dash of dried mustard, and salt and pepper. Takes just a few minutes to prepare, maybe an hour to "meld", and the family wolfs down large quantities, with chips, on/in burritos/enchiladas/tacos/eggs, with cottage cheese, etc. :) Sara
ReplyDeleteHi Sara,
DeleteYour fresh salsa sounds delicious! I mostly can our salsa. But maybe I should make a batch of fresh salsa as a treat for my family this next week.
My 92 yo father provided me with two 5 gallon buckets plus a cardboard tray full of tomatoes from his garden. Obviously, we couldn't eat them all so I canned 15 quarts and 9 pints of crushed tomatoes for future use. We ate BLTs and creamy tomato soup along with many meals of eggs with a tomato topper. Each gift of produce is a blessing because it will end at some point.
ReplyDeleteHi Alice,
DeleteThe buckets of tomatoes from your father are a labor of his love for you. What a special man he is. (And his daughter is pretty special, too.)