What to do with green tomato glut??

lisev

Hi all,


I've just returned from holiday to find that my tomato plants have gone absolutely mad and I have a massive amount of both ripe and unripe tomatoes. I've been checking out green tomato recipes but nothing is really grabbing me. I'm going to be roasting the ripe ones and using in sauces and just as is but i really want to use up the green ones too. Does anyone have any recipes they use or could point me in the right direction?


Thanks


Lise

greent

I've tried the mixed tomato chutney and baked chicken and tomatoes here: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/oct/04/nigel-slater-green-tomato-recipes

VfM4meplse

Watching with interest. I've picked the last of the red ones, but there are still some green ones on the vine that need to be picked before the frost gets to them. (Incredibly, we got away with no frost overnight but the spring onions were plucked out of the soil pre-emptively!).

CRANKY40

This.....and also remembering MSD who was a lovely friend to quite a few people here

Divas' Green Tomato chutney
This is my tried and tested (and favourite) Green tomato chutney....

1 pint vinegar
1lb demerara sugar
1 lb. chopped green tomatoes
1 lb. chopped cooking apples
½ lb. chopped sultanas
¼ lb. chopped onions
½ lb. sugar (granulated is fine)
½ tsp ground ginger
Pinch of salt
1 chilli finely chopped (You can skip this if you want a more traditional recipe)
Put the vinegar and demerara sugar in a pan and heat gently until sugar melts.
Add all the other ingredients
Bring mixture to boil and cook slowly stirring all the time until it thickens.
It's ready when you can pull a wooden spoon across the bottom of the pan and the line you make stays clean.

I do have another one, but can't find the peice of paper with it on so will post later on for you.

Diva.x

Well_Preserved

Somebody told me there is a recipe for a delicious cake made using green tomatoes, but they haven't shared it & I haven't googled it yet!

C_J

I had lots of green tomatoes left in my greenhouse too. I picked them and put them in a basket in my kitchen, in a warm spot near the window, along with a couple of bananas and all the tomatoes ripened beautifully within a week.

cafelady

No need to use them up all at once. Put them in a single layer in lidded cardboard boxes e.g. shoeboxes and leave them to ripen.

cameronb

Put them on a sunny window ledge, they don't need to be attached to the plant to go red. We do it with ours all the time. It doesn't take long but how long it takes depends on how sunny it is.

Paul_H_42

A sunny window sill may be a big ask in November. The classic trick for ripening green tomatoes was to put them in a paper bag, possibly with a ripe banana to provide ethylene, and put them in a drawer. I've actually had mine in a bag in a vegetable rack for some weeks and been eating plenty. You do need to watch out for rotting (especially ones with blight).
I've made green tomato chutney and I've pickled some whole (recipe from GardenBetty as I couldn't find my usual) - whole pickled ones, cherry-sized, are a very nice thing to have in midwinter, giving you fruitiness which seasonal crops don't have!

Jodelle

Here's a recipe from a Heathrow workmate that I've treasured and kept - typed on the back of a 1971 Embarkation Card!

2 lbs green tomatoes (chopped or cut up small)
2 lbs cooking apples (peeled, cored & chopped or cut up small)
2 lbs shallots (peeled & chopped or cut up small)
1 3/4 pints vinegar
1/2 oz powdered mustard
1 lb dark brown sugar
1/2 lb sultanas
1/2 teasp powdered ginger
2 oz salt
1/2 teasp pepper

Method: Put all in a large saucepan, lid off, and simmer for 1.5-2 hours
Stir well from time to time to prevent sticking
Pour into sterilised jars and seal (makes about 7 lbs)
Chutney keeps well and matures with keeping

(It occurs to me that this would work well in a modern electric pressure cooker)

grazingsheep

This is a recipe I have made for a few years that uses lots of green tomatoes.

Green tomato cake
_________________
Serves 24
Ingredients
725g chopped green tomatoes (chopped small)
1 tablespoon salt
125g butter
250g caster sugar
2 eggs
250g plain flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
60g sultanas or raisins
60g chopped walnuts

Prep:25min › Cook: 45min › Ready in: 1hr 10min

Method
1. Place chopped tomatoes in a bowl and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon salt.
Let it stand for10 minutes.
Place in a sieve or colander, rinse with cold water and drain.
2. Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas 4. Grease and line a 20x30cm (9x13 in) baking tin with greaseproof paper (or an old butter wrapper).
3. Cream butter and sugar.
4. Add eggs and beat until creamy.
5. Sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, bicarb and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
6. Add sultanas and nuts to dry mixture; add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. The batter will be very stiff. Mix well.
7. Add drained tomatoes and mix well.
8. Pour into the prepared tin.
9. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until skewer inserted into cake comes out clean.
Leave to cool for 10 minutes and turn onto a baking tray. Cut into rectangles.