It’s October at the time of writing and anyone who has been growing tomatoes over the summer will be bringing the last of them indoors as they will struggle to ripen outdoors now, even in a greenhouse. The days are too short, and the sun is not hot enough
Now, you don’t need to do anything with them. Just pile them up in a bowl and they will gradually ripen. Add a ripe fruit if you want to speed it up a bit. We have been known to still be eating the last few at Christmas!
Whenever green tomato recipes are mentioned, one of two recipes come up, either a green tomato chutney recipe, or a fried green tomatoes recipe.
There is nothing wrong with either idea, but there are lots of other ways to answer the question ‘what can I do with green tomatoes‘
What can you do with green tomatoes?
Searching through a few of my cookery books, of which I have hundreds, I found some lovely ideas
Unless bred to be green when ripe, green tomatoes are the unripe fruit of the red tomato we all know and love. Because they are unripe, they are firmer and more acidic than a red and ripe tomato. This firmness and acidity provides interesting options when using them
Green tomatoes go very well with creamy things, with eggs, bacon and leeks – I’d be happy to mix up something with all of those ingredients!
Every way of cooking in a country that grows tomatoes has come up with a way to use green ones, unsurprising I suppose! So we have green tomato risotto, salsa, gratin and tarte tatin, all of which sound delicious.
Use green tomatoes mixed with apples, preferably Bramleys, in pies and crumbles. They would be ready at the same time if you grow them both
I will go through the recipes written out here and write a proper recipe card for them, when I get round to it – there are so many recipes to do that for!
Green tomato casserole
This sounds pretty wonderful and I’m definitely going to try it – before my tomatoes all turn red!
Green Tomato Bars
This is a sweet recipe with lemon juice, cinnamon, oats and walnuts and it sounds fabulous
Lemon and green tomato sauce
Melt 25g butter and cook some garlic and 450g chopped green tomatoes in it. Add the zest of a lemon, tblsp sugar and cook until the tomatoes are softened
Blitz with 150g Greek yogurt or creme fraiche and season.
Use this wonderful fresh and zesty sauce over pasta, jacket potatoe or over poached chicken
Green tomato gratin
Caramelise 5 onions in 3tblsp oil or butter. Put in baking dish. Slice 1.4kg green tomatoes over the top. Pour over 250ml stock. Cover and bake in the oven for 40 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed.
Crush the tomatoes, season and slice over 150g feta
Green tomato jam
A friend provided this very easy sounding recipe from her mums old cookbook
5lb (2.3kg) green tomatoes, 4lb (1.8kg) sugar, 1 lemon
Chop the tomatoes and put in the preserving pan with the sugar. Zest and juice the lemon and add. Simmer until setting point is reached. Pot into hot and dry jars and cover
Quick pickled green tomatoes
These spicy Pickled Green Tomatoes from Anne at upstateramblings.com are a quick and easy way to use up the last of your garden’s harvest! These green cherry tomatoes are pickled with vinegar, garlic, dill and red pepper for a tasty bite size refrigerator pickle.
Tomato galette with basil whipped feta
I love tarts of all kinds and this one looks a fabulous way to use green tomatoes
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