It’s that time of year that all of those tomatoes we planted are finally ripe and ready for us to use. We will ever complain about vine ripe tomatoes – they taste so much better than the ones from the stores we get in the colder months, but right now our counters are filled with bowls of tomatoes. It’s almost like we can’t keep up with what the plants have produced. So besides pasta sauce, tomato paste and salsa – what else can we do with our beautiful tomato bounty that we’re getting right now?
As much as we love our cherry tomatoes, we’re getting even getting too much for even our salads right now. And while they’re absolutely beautiful in a bowl, we’d rather make sure we can use them later. In the past it was a challenge to use them in any pasta sauce, and their sweet flavor gets lost in the mix. So, we had to find a way to find enjoy them later, that could be a great to use in recipes and possibly even snacks. And one of the quickest ways to do this – is to pickle them!
Now pickled tomatoes may sound odd to some, and admittedly – it was for us as well until a couple of years ago. We were able to try some at an event and they were nothing short of Ah-mazing. And tossed in with some chicken and baked for dinner – there is absolutely nothing better! And making the pickled cherry tomatoes – takes only 15 minutes, so a quick and delicious option for our garden bounty.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups of Cherry Tomatoes
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Pickling Salt or Kosher Salt
- 4 Cloves Garlic
- Black Peppercorns
- Rosemary Sprigs
Directions:
- Wash and remove any stems from your cherry tomatoes. With a knife, gently pierce each cherry tomato and set in a bowl.
- In a medium sauce pan, boil together your water, apple cider vinegar and pickling salt until all of the salt is dissolved.
- In 4 clean half pint jars, put in 1 small sprig of rosemary, 1 garlic clove and a few black pepper corns.
- Fill the jars with the cherry tomatoes and pack in as close as you can.
- Pour the hot pickling mixture over the top of the tomatoes in each jar.
- Add a flat lid and screw the band on the lids.
- Allow to cool completely before placing in the refrigerator for at least 48 hours before enjoying.
This quick pickling process means the tomatoes will be ready in 48 hours after cooling and sitting in your refrigerator. The longer they sit the better the flavor will be. But since you are not processing the cans, they will only last in the refrigerator for up to 2 months. But that really wont be a problem, you’ll enjoy them as snacks or in a recipe well before that!
If you want to save your pickled tomatoes for longer – you can always water bath process them! That’s 10 minutes for pint jars, 15 minutes for quart jars, not very long but this will mean you can store them on your shelves for several months.