My Tomatoes Are Ripe to Roast
This is the month, when all the heirloom tomatoes that I’ve been nursing along suddenly ripen. This has been a tough year, with no rain and high heat, so it’s been a labor of love, if daily watering can be called love. My reward is a weekly haul of mixed tomato varieties, packed with intoxicating tomato flavors. Now it’s time to freeze roasted tomatoes!
The Best Way to Freeze Tomatoes
I know “the best” is a bold claim, but, this is the way that works for me. When you don’t want to commit to a canning session, but want to put a small batch of perfectly ripe tomatoes away, this is the answer. It’s so simple, and come winter, you will be so glad you put these concentrated bags of summertime magic in the freezer.
Space-Saving Storage for Your Roasted Tomatoes
So, throwing your tomatoes in a pan is just the start. Once they have cooked to a deeply concentrated sweetness, you need to put them away. That’s when you use the same technique I showed you in The Best Way to Freeze Basil. Because this is my most popular YouTube video, I figured that you must be hungry for more ways to use the method.
It all comes down to efficiency. Pouring the roasted tomatoes into quart-sized freezer bags and laying them flat to freeze creates stackable, slim slabs of tomatoes. Because they are thin, they thaw quickly and are easy to toss in a pan.
This way, I can pick what’s ripe, roast it and freeze it, whether it’s a quart or a gallon of tomatoes. It’s direct and easy, and I know I’ll treasure these when it’s time to make a quick pasta in December!
Roasted Tomatoes to Freeze
Ingredients
- 8 cups assorted tomatoes halved
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic halved
- coarse salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Place the tomatoes in a deep roasting pan, add garlic, olive oil and a generous pinch of salt. Toss to coat
- Roast for about an hour. Take out to cool, then scrape into containers to refrigerate or freeze. This makes about 3 cups.
