Frozen Tomatoes.... Now what??!

[AZGardener]

Hi guys- I have 2 freezer bags full of different tomatoes that I froze whole from last summer. I need to start using them asap, as my tomatoes are setting and I'm probably a couple days away from picking my first big slicer of the year. Any ideas that I can use the whole frozen tomato for? I'm thinking of dumping them all into the crockpot and I can try making fresh tomato sauce?? Any other ideas?


Thanks in advance!

[BigVanVader]

Salsa?

[Father'sDaughter]

Sauce or salsa are probably the easiest options.

They will release a ton of water when they thaw. Put them in the sink to thaw out, then drain off the watery liquid. You can also easily slip off the skins at this point.

[ContainerTed]

I would get out the slow cooker and make tomato soup. Slowly reduce the contents of the freezer containers without losing one bit of the flavors. Don't pour off any liquid in those freezer bags. Just reduce slowly and keep every spec of intense flavor.

UUUmmmmmmmm!!!!! I can't stand to waste anything.

[Salsacharley]

I agree with Ted.

[feldon30]

Dump out on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Toss with olive oil and roast in the oven at 375 for 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Puree into sauce.

[AlittleSalt]

I'm agreeing with Ted too - that sounds good.

[bower]

Got a blender? Make gazpacho.
Drop of evoo and some grated garlic, chop and add frozen tomatoes and a splash of red wine vinegar. Pulse, stir and pulse... until thawed. Serve cold! Very refreshing.

[Tracydr]

I'd drain off the water,cook down to a thick sauce for pizza or pasta. If it's really thick you'll be surprised at how little will come from a huge amount of tomatoes. Easiest is to freeze the sauce,one year I did this and made a nice marinara frozen.
Canning,you need to be more careful to use an actual recipe but still really easy.
Thaw quickly,I had a big batch of tomatoes start to ferment in the sink while I was slowly thawing in a warm,AZ kitchen. Made the most disgusting sauce and got thrown out.
Since,I've learned to thaw quickly and get it cooking. If canning, I run it through a food star tuner and remove the seeds. Skin slides off as it thaws.

[oakley]

I just made a big pot of tomato soup last week for a party. Semi-thawed i put one bag in the oven with quartered onion, whole head of garlic, rib of celery, a carrot, a parsnip, some herbs... and roasted for an hour-ish or more. It reduced and roasted. Don't rinse all the good juice!
Chilled, then added another frozen bag of sliced heirlooms to the pot and put it in the blender in batches.

With fresh tomatoes right around the corner i use my last season frozens for soup and chili or sauce for pasta. Fresh salsa will be soon enough come harvest...

Made an herbed basil cream...to add at table....separate just in case someone had a dairy issue. Micro greens for garnish.

[AZGardener]

Thank you all! Its going to be so stinking hot from here on out so I'm going to try and pick the "coolest" day to have the crock run all day. Coolest day means 90....

[NarnianGarden]

Yes, sauce, sauce and sauce - or soup
Sounds you're a bit like many folks here with summer berries - they have plenty of strawberries, blueberries etc. in the freezer all winter, and when the summer arrives with new crop, it's a task to get rid of the old harvest .. plenty of cooking, baking etc

[NarnianGarden]

Originally Posted by AZGardener

Thank you all! Its going to be so stinking hot from here on out so I'm going to try and pick the "coolest" day to have the crock run all day. Coolest day means 90....

One year my parents' freezer broke down in the mid July heat ... plenty of frozen berries that had to be cooked into a jam .. You can imagine the sweating ..! (the jam turned out very delicious...)

[oakley]

Yup. Time to clean out the freezer. I just harvested 10lbs of rhubarb and still have some frozen along with some horseradish roots, berries, etc.

Two big packs of heirloom slices and a couple smaller packs i add to soups.
It's 50 and cool here and only 70 by afternoon for a few weeks ahead it seems.
Gazpacho, an oven roasted garlicy sauce, spicy tom juice w/celery leaves and horseradish, and a bbq sauce is on the menu. I use rhubarb in my bbq. Smoked a
couple chickens last weekend but have been out of bbq sauce for some time now.

In the heat of Aug-Sept during harvest i put the crock pot outside the kitchen on the deck on a work table under the eaves.

[bower]

Definitely freezer time. I'm running out of jelly and need to cook up last year's currants and dogberries. Looks like a beautiful spread, Oakley. (and my fave beer)
My rhubarb isn't big enough to harvest yet but getting there... Just cooked up the frozen rhu last weekend and one of my dinner guests whipped up a cobbler on the spur of the moment. Truly a kitchen party when the guests do the cooking too.
As for tomatoes, I should really do a freezer purge. Cook em all up, and then do without for a couple months so I am properly enthusiastic (ie starved) for the first fresh ones.
I know there are some old caplin down there that have to go... I'd like to bury them but not for the fox.