12 Ways to Use Up and Preserve Fresh Tomatoes

It seems like whether you like to tomatoes or not, every gardener grows at one tomato plant.  It’s like the cardinal rule of gardening.  No one knows why.  It just is.  If you DO like them, it kind of makes it a little more worth your time, but to each their own.  The thing about tomato plants is that one minute you have one or two deliciously vine ripened tomatoes, and the next you have a boat load.  So, in the name of using them up and enjoying the most of the season, here are some ways to preserve and use them up:

Preserving

1. The holy grail of tomatoes, in my opinion comes down to two things.  The first, is canned salsa.  Homemade canned salsa is one of the finer things in life.
2. The second of the holy grail tomato uses is tomato sauce.  Once you have canned your own tomato sauce, you will seriously wonder how you every did Ragu.  It. Is. Divine.
3. Soups.  Tomato basil soup is one of my favorite soups to pair with a grilled cheese sandwich.  It’s like the milk and cookies of savory combinations.  Plus, I love having canned and freezer soups on hand for lunches.
4. Dehydrate them.  Um, sun dried tomatoes anyone.  Yes, yes please.  Dehydrated tomatoes are awesome to toss into pasta salads.  If you dehydrate them, they will last about a month.  Toss those dehydrated bad boys into a mason jar and store them in the freezer, and they’ll last until next growing season.
5. Plain old canned tomatoes are a super quick way to put tomatoes up.  There are a million methods, but I like to boil them until the skin pops off, remove the skin and can them whole.  That way, I can chop them up in soups, etc. whenever I need canned tomatoes.  {HERE is how I peel my tomatoes.}
6. Toward the end of the season, when you have all of those green tomatoes you know aren’t going to ripen, you should totally try my friend Jane’s Green Tomato Curry Sauce.  Holy cow, it is soooo good.  It is fantastic dumped over a crock pot of chicken breast.
7. If canning isn’t your thing, you can freeze tomatoes.  Whole tomatoes don’t freeze very well, in my opinion, so I usually go the tomato paste or pizza sauce route.  They both freeze perfectly, and I can find about a million uses for them throughout the winter.
8. Did you know you can turn tomatoes into jam?  Yes, yes you can.  And, it is surprisingly delicious.  This recipe only makes one jar at a time, but be prepared to double it, because one jar will last about 2 days once you’ve tried it.

Ways to Enjoy Them Fresh

1. Again, salsa.  You don’t have to can it.  You can whip up a batch and let the flavors all mingle for a minute before you set out the bowl and watch it get devoured.
2. I’ve been known to toss tomatoes into pretty much everything during tomato season.  I love to add them to pasta salads.  We also have bruschetta a couple nights a week during the height of tomato season.
3. Baked tomatoes with Pine Nuts and Basil is one of my favorite summertime lunches.  I almost always have fresh basil this time of year, and it takes about two seconds to slice the tomato, chop basil and toss this into oven.  It also takes about two seconds for me to gobble it up.
4. Quiches are the perfect way to use up tomatoes {and any other vegetable you feel like tossing in}.

What is YOUR favorite way to use up fresh tomatoes?

~Mavis