Check out some of my favorite recipes for using up a huge harvest of tomatoes.
Dominican Style Sofrito
Use sofrito as a marinade for meats or in place of mirepoix. It is a great way to use up a lot of veggies from the garden. I make a huge batch and freeze it individually so they are already separated for future recipes. No measurements are used here. Just toss what you have into a blender.
Ingredients
Tomatoes
Sweet bell peppers
Garlic
Onions
Cilantro (optional)
Culantro (optional)
1- chicken bouillon cube (optional or can sub for a vegetarian cube)
Directions
Put it all in a blender. Ratio of veggies doesn't matter, just add what you have.
Tomato Salsa
You can make this one of two ways. Fine chop it with a food chopper for a chunkier texture OR blend it all in the blender for a smooth salsa texture.
Ingredients
4 cups chopped tomatoes
1/2 chopped onion
2 TBS fresh lime juice
2 TSP salt
1/2 TSP chili powder
1/2 TSP ground cumin
Handful of chopped cilantro (optional)
1/2 chopped jalapeno pepper with seeds removed (optional)
1- can of sweet corn, liquid drained out (optional)
Directions
For chunky salsa - use a chopper to dice the tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno pepper. Then mix everything together.
For smooth salsa - add the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and jalapeno pepper into a blender and blend until desired consistency. Add the salt, chili powder, cumin, and sweet corn after blended.
Bruschetta with a Balsamic Vinegar Glaze
My favorite bruschetta is made with any kind of red tomatoes I can find, and some Ananas Noire tomatoes. Ananas Noire has a very distinct sweet flavor that contrasts deliciously against other regular red tomatoes.
Ingredients
5 cups chopped tomatoes
2 TBS minced garlic (can add more or less according to how much garlic you like)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup ripped/torn basil leaves. Can chop them with a knife but they get brown edges when cut with a knife.
2 TSP salt
Sliced crusty bread. I really like to diagonal slice a French Baguette. Then brush it with some olive oil and bake at 350F until it gets a little crispy.
Directions
Mix everything together and spoon over your choice of bread.
Ingredients for the Balsamic Vinegar Glaze
You can buy this already made at the grocery store but it tastes a million times better homemade. It just takes a few minutes.
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 TBS honey
Directions for the Balsamic Vinegar Glaze
Bring the balsamic vinegar to a soft boil in a small non-reactive pot. Add the TBS of honey and whisk everything together. Keep whisking the vinegar as it cooks, reducing down as water evaporates. It is done when it reaches a thicker glaze consistency. This happens very quickly and if your not watching it, it will burn. Remove from the heat and pour it into some empty condiment squeeze bottles. I like to get them from the dollar store. Drizzle the balsamic glaze over the bruschetta.
Roasted Tomato Lemon Pasta
Ingredients
5 cups of tomatoes. If they are large tomatoes, dice them up. If they are cherry tomatoes, cut them in half. Leave them whole if they are currant tomatoes, like Everglades tomatoes.
3 TBS minced garlic
2 TSP salt
4 TBS butter
1 lemon - zest the entire lemon and reserve. Juice the lemon and reserve.
4oz cream cheese
2 cups of heavy cream
1lb dried pasta of choice. I like using spaghetti or bucatini.
Directions
Start boiling a pot of water for the pasta. Set the oven to bake at 400F.
Mix the tomatoes, garlic, and salt in a bowl. Pour this into a baking pan. Bake at 400F for 15-25 minutes, opening the oven to mix it all half way through the baking time. The tomato mixture is done baking once its all softened up and caramelized.
Boil the pasta according to package directions. Drain the pasta out of the water once done cooking, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water.
Put the pot back on the stove top at medium heat. Add the butter and stir. Once the butter is melted add the lemon zest, cream cheese, and heavy cream. Whisk everything until melted and creamy. Add the tomato mixture once it is done baking. Add the lemon juice at the end. Stir everything together.
Add the pasta back into the pot with 1 cup of pasta water. Mix everything together and enjoy!
Tomato Bacon Onion Jam
Ingredients
1/2 pound thick cut bacon, diced
1 large yellow onion, sliced
2 TSP minced garlic
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 TBS brown sugar
1/2 TSP ground black pepper
Directions
Cook the diced bacon in a pot. Once it turns brown, add the onions and garlic. Cook until they are translucent. At this point, you can drain out all of the bacon grease but I like to leave 1 TSP for extra flavor. Add the rest of the ingredients. Cook until everything has softened and caramelized, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. You can eat it as is, or blend it to make it into a smooth consistency.