Mediterranean

We all love those sweet, juicy and tangy summer tomatoes, am I right? Especially when they are grown locally and do not have travelled thousands of kilometres! Such a pity that they only are available in summer!! Wait .. no, we don’t want that. We also want that pleasure in winter! But how? I´ll show you three ways how you can make tomatoes last longer!

Just a little intro to my love for tomatoes

I am not joking or exaggerating when I say I LOVE tomatoes and that I am obsessed with them. Since I was I child I had a passion for all foods that were red/ pink – strawberries, cherries, raspberries, and also tomatoes. And I still do have this love. Sometimes we have a like half a kilogram of tomatoes in the kitchen because we want to cook something with them. After a day or two they are gone, but not because we used them for cooking but because I snack on them all. the. time.
So if anyone, then it’s me who knows how hard and annoying it can be to not enjoy those super delicious tomatoes in winter. That’s why we need a delicious and climate friendly solution!

Why not having tomatoes in winter?

To grow, tomatoes need sunlight and heat. Therefore they are fruits (yes, they actually are fruits!!) that are grown in summer. Most of the times they are grown in Spain or Italy, just because the season is longer there but in June, July and August, you can also can local ones in most areas.

As tomatoes need these factors to grow and become tasty, you can imagine that it is hard to grow a tomato in winter in Austria, when it is cold and there is little sun. But this does not mean that tomatoes cannot be grown in winter. They can. But to fulfil these factors and needs, they either are grown far away from Austria, in a different climate or they are treated with chemicals and fertiliser to grow large and juicy.

So we have those two options, of which both are not very climate friendly. When the are grown far abroad, they need to travel a lot to come to Austria, which means a lot of carbon is emitted. When they are grown rather locally, they need to be treated with fertilisers, which both, are unhealthy for our body since they mess up with our digestion, and are unhealthy for the environment because they harm the soil.

To sum up, you can have tomatoes in winter but it neither is healthy for the environment nor is it for our body (in most cases).

So how do you make tomatoes last longer?

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1. Tomato Sauce

We all know the easiest way to have tomatoes in winter. In form of a tomato sauce! We get a pre made tomato sauce in the store all year round. And it has already often been our life saver, hasn’t it? While store bought tomato sauce is alright, when you have made your own homemade one once, you will not want to go back.
Plus, it actually is healthier than store bought one. Oftentimes, the ones that is pre made and ready to use has a lot of sugar and flavour enhancers added. This tastes good, but really is not healthy for you. When you make it yourself, you know exactly what’s in, you can season it to your preference and you can choose the best tomatoes to make it with for the best flavour! Plus, it is way easier than you may think it is!

2. Dried Tomatoes

Most of us also know this one. Dried tomatoes are, as the name suggests dehydrated tomatoes. They usually come soaked in oil and herbs but sometimes also without anything. Dried tomatoes are a little soft but have barely any water in them anymore and are pretty salty in most cases.
They are perfect to add to pasta dishes, salads, bowls or just on top of burrata. They add an incredible amount of flavour although they are so simple. I think, these are the easiest to make from all 3 recipes because they essentially come down to being cut in half, put into the oven and then stored in a jar with oil. Pretty simple right?

3. Pickled tomatoes

I know what your face looks like right now. Like, huh? Don’t you just pickle cucumbers? NO! You can pickle pretty much any vegetable. It makes vegetables last longer while gaining flavour. My favourite pickled thing besides tomatoes, are onions. Red ones, that turn pink but also small white onions, which are pickled as a whole. They are often served in Italy and they are so delicious.
But back to the tomatoes. Pickling them is really easy. You make a brew from vinegar, water and (coconut) sugar, pour that over the tomatoes and let them sit in the fridge. That way they get even sweeter and last pretty long. I love adding them to salads, with burrata, to Buddha/ nourish bowl or serving them with avocado toast or poached eggs. Super super tasty!

Are these things healthy?

Yes, they are. You can take a look at the ingredients and you’ll see that they all are healthy. Tomatoes themselves, also are a very healthy fruit. They are very low in calories but a great source of fibre, vitamin K, C, and Potassium. Let’s take a look at the specific dishes:

Tomato sauce: it is made out of fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, celery, carrot, olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs, That’s it! To really clean and healthy. Adding the celery and carrot at the beginning does not only account for more flavour but it also is a great way to add some vitamins! I have a detailed blog post on tomato sauce here where you can read a lot about it and how to make it!

Dried tomatoes: The only ingredients here are tomatoes, salt, oregano, onions and olive oil. Again, very simple and very clean. Maybe your question now is, when they are stored in olive oil, are they still healthy? Yes, they are. First of all, oil and olive oil is not unhealthy! It is high in calories, that is true but since we only store them in oil, and do not pour over all of the oil when eating, they still are really healthy.

Pickled tomatoes: what you’ll need for this is vinegar, water, coconut sugar, salt, onions and herbs. Also here, very clean ingredients. Usually pickled tomatoes are made with normal sugar but since we are opting for a healthier choice, we go for coconut sugar. This one is higher in nutrients and lower in actual sugar.

How to best enjoy these tomato dishes:

No we have made them it would be good to know how you can use them. he tomato sauce goes for anything you would use store bought for. This can be as a regular pasta sauce, with meatballs (or no-meatballs), in Shakshuka, in Tikka Masala or in Ratatouille. The dried tomatoes are a great garnish for anything Mediterranean inspired or are a great addition to sauces to add some flavour. I for example love to add them to tomato sauces for extra flavour or to a creamy cashew sauce. Also great in salads! The pickled tomatoes are a great topping for toasts or an amazing and flavourful part of a buddha/ nourish bowl. Also they are great when enjoyed with mozzarella or in breakfast tacos !

Enjoy

I hope that you will enjoy these different ways of having tomatoes in winter and will come back to those when you want tomatoes all year around. They are best to make now, when the tomatoes are in season to have a delicious and sustainable way of enjoying them all year round!

Happy cooking,
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière