One way to prepare tomatoes and many other vegetables for the winter is to freeze them. It allows you to preserve the taste, aroma and nutrients, and is also very helpful if you have nowhere to store preserved food. In addition, you will not have any problems regarding what can be cooked from frozen tomatoes. The only thing is that for salads you still have to go to the store for fresh vegetables. But otherwise, frozen tomatoes are a very good substitute for fresh ones in any recipe, from first courses to sauces.
Frozen tomatoes for the winter - awesome recipes for freezing tomatoes
Do you like tomatoes? This is one of my favorite vegetables to eat all year long. Of course, nowadays in winter you can easily buy completely different vegetables, but your own, grown in garden beds, are much tastier and healthier.
In principle, you can just take and freeze vegetables, or you can read the article first and avoid making some mistakes.
Which tomatoes are suitable and several harvesting rules?
Before you start freezing, you should choose the right tomatoes. Firm vegetables are suitable, but not very hard. First, they need to be inspected for signs of pests and holes. Of course, such vegetables can be prepared, but they will take longer to process.
Any variety can be stored in the freezer, but fleshy varieties of tomatoes are considered the most suitable, since they contain little water. This type is often used to prepare sauces without long cooking.
Frozen tomatoes for the winter in raw form for pizza and other dishes
This preparation option is especially good for various types of pizzas and pies. It is better to use fruits that are not too juicy.
If you will be freezing a lot, you can use cling film for this. The order is as follows: board, cling film, layer of tomatoes, then cling film and so on. Or freeze some, take it out, then make the next batch. In general, choose what is convenient for you.
1. Wash the tomatoes and dry them very well. Then cut them into rings about 5-6 mm thick.
2. Take a large bag or board, lay it out and place our slices on top so that they do not touch each other.
Otherwise, everything will stick together and it will be inconvenient to take out the vegetables later.
3. Lay out in one layer and put in the freezer. When the vegetables have hardened, put them in a bag.
If you decide to prepare a lot of fruits, then again lay out a layer of slices and freeze again. And so on until everything is recycled.
Quite simple. I think you won't have any difficulties.
Basic storage rules
Properly frozen tomatoes can be stored for 10 months to 1 year, and they can and should be used until the new harvest ripens.
However, in order for the product not to lose its qualities, both nutritional and taste, it is necessary to follow the following recommendations:
- Store food in the freezer only in closed containers. If the tomatoes have been cut into pieces, such containers should, if possible, be airtight.
- Once the product has begun to thaw, it cannot be re-frozen.
- When placing a tomato in the freezer, it should be dry, but pre-washed (vegetables are not washed after defrosting).
- Low temperatures will not turn a spoiled product into a fresh one. Low-quality raw materials should not be sent to the freezer.
- After blast freezing, vegetables should always be laid out in portions so that each time before use you do not have to remove the entire container from the chamber to select the required quantity.
- If harvesting is carried out in several batches or in different ways (slices or slices, with or without peel, etc.), each package must be marked with the date of freezing and its method.
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An excellent, proven way to freeze tomatoes in pieces at home
An incredibly beautiful product is obtained using this recipe. Good, fairly large blocks of frozen tomatoes and herbs will greatly help you out in the winter. After all, they can be safely added to all first and second courses. A piece of summer in cold winter!
1. Wash and dry vegetables and herbs well.
2. Cut the tomatoes into pieces and finely chop the greens. Mix everything together in a deep container.
3. Take silicone baking molds and fill them with our mixture.
Place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Then we take out the contents of the forms and put everything in a regular bag. So we continue to store it in the freezer.
Freezing tomatoes minced for borscht
If you put tomatoes in borscht, then this preparation will save your time this winter. All you need to do is take it out of the freezer and add it to your dish. You can use different storage forms, in this case the volume is 250 ml.
1. Cut clean, washed tomatoes into pieces, removing unnecessary, spoiled parts. And we pass them through a meat grinder or blender.
2. Chop the greens and add them to the tomato mixture, stirring everything together.
3. Fill our molds with the resulting mass and put them in the refrigerator to freeze, covering them with lids.
We get it when the need arises.
The best recipe for preparing tomato cubes in ice trays
This is a very cool recipe. All its components are left to your discretion, well, of course, except for the tomatoes. A very aromatic paste that can be safely added to all dishes, from sauces to all kinds of dishes, both everyday and festive.
1. Peel the tomatoes and cut into pieces. Place in a blender bowl and add garlic, herbs, salt and spices at your discretion. Pour in a little olive oil and mix everything well to form a paste.
2. Fill our ice trays with it and put it in the refrigerator to freeze. Then you can store it like this, or take out the frozen mass and put it in a bag.
We prepare cherry tomatoes for the winter in a bag. Simply “finger licking good”!
Cherries can also be easily frozen. And if you do this in a natural way, they will remain as juicy and tasty, as if they had just been picked from the garden.
They can be added to soups, gravies, and salads.
1. Wash and sort the tomatoes. We only need whole cherries. And put them on a towel to dry.
2. Then we transfer them to a board or any other flat surface and put them in the freezer, where they will lie for about one hour.
3. After which you can put everything into a bag and leave it to wait for your turn.
In circles
Preparation in circles is very convenient for pizza lovers. To make a workpiece in this way, you need:
- Cut the washed and dried tomatoes into circles with a sharp serrated knife so that their thickness is within 0.7 mm.
- Cover the tray with cling film or parchment paper and arrange the sliced tomato slices so that they do not touch each other.
- The prepared pieces are placed in the freezer for 2 hours. It should be remembered that everyone’s freezers are different, and you need to control the degree of freezing of tomatoes yourself.
- When complete freezing has occurred, the workpieces should be placed in containers or plastic bags, tightly closed or tied and placed in the freezer for further storage.
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Video on how to properly freeze tomatoes at home
Watch the video so that you definitely don’t have any questions about freezing tomatoes for the winter. Everything is very accessible and understandable. There is also another interesting way to store it in a bag. You might also like it.
I think it's worth spending quite a bit of time preparing the vegetables. After all, this is not at all difficult, but how can you praise yourself in winter when you always have delicious tomatoes at hand. So don't be afraid, you will succeed! Try it and choose your favorite option.
What can you cook
Frozen tomatoes are often used for a variety of dishes, so let’s look at what to do with them and what culinary masterpieces you can prepare.
Frozen preparations are useful for soups, stews, sautes, pizza, sauces, baked dishes . In general, you can use frozen tomatoes in the same way as with fresh tomatoes - everything is limited only by your imagination and the amount of frozen product.
Thus, freezing tomatoes in the freezer is quite simple; the main thing is to take into account some nuances when choosing a product and follow the recommendations described in this article to simplify the process of preparing and freezing tomatoes as much as possible.
Cooking frozen tomatoes.
1 select and prepare tomatoes
For high-quality freezing, without large losses of tasty and very healthy juice, you need to choose firm varieties of tomatoes, with thick skin, fleshy and preferably, they should be a little under-ripe and a little juicy. Tomatoes, which are popularly called “cream” tomatoes, are ideal for freezing; they are small in size and ideally freeze quickly. First, sort through the tomatoes and remove any spoiled, squashed, rotten or very soft ones.
Then place them in a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold running water so that all dust and dirt are thoroughly washed off. Keep the tomatoes 15 to drain all the water, dry them with kitchen paper towels and place in a dry, clean deep bowl. The tomatoes are prepared and ready to be frozen.
2 frozen tomatoes - recipe one
The first recipe is very easy and simple. Place prepared dried tomatoes in small portions in vacuum bags and close the plastic lock, lightly pressing it with your fingers, leaving a small space for a thin tube through which children often drink juice. Insert the straw into the hole and suck out all the air from the bag. When there is no air left in the bag, pinch the end of the tube through which you sucked the air with your finger, slowly pulling it out of the bag. Using your fingers, push out the remaining air, pull out the tube, tightly close the bag of tomatoes and put it in the freezer. The tomatoes will be frozen in 2 – 4 hours, depending on the size of the fruit. For such freezing, it is desirable that the diameter of the tomato does not exceed 3 - 4 centimeters . Such tomatoes retain their properties and vitamins for 7 - 9 months . This type of frozen tomatoes is suitable for preparing stuffed tomatoes, salads, and any other dishes.
3 frozen tomatoes – recipe two
4 frozen tomatoes – recipe three
Using a slotted spoon, carefully place the tomatoes into the boiling water and leave them to steam for 1 minute.
During this time, pour chilled water from plastic bottles into a deep bowl and then, using the same slotted spoon, remove the tomatoes and place them in a bowl of cold water.
Let them sit in the cooled water for 1 – 2 minutes.
Take one fruit at a time from the water and carefully remove the skin from each tomato using a knife.
And now you can act as you wish, you can cut out the stalks of the tomato, cut them into slices or chop them into small pieces as you like.
