Russian hostesses can make fragrant jam from anything. Berries and fruits, orange and watermelon peels, lemon slices and even young spruce cones - a lot of things are good for making a sweet treat.
You will not surprise anyone with vegetable jam: from zucchini and pumpkin, it turns out to be very tasty.
But tomatoes? Can a sour-sweet juicy fruit turn into a traditional Russian dessert?
Imagine how else you can! Moreover, jam with equal success can be cooked from red and green fruit. No one will ever guess that a magical ruby or emerald sweetness in a crystal vase is a fiery Signor Tomato. The taste of the product is exactly the same as that of ordinary jam. But with the aroma you can play a little. Orange, vanilla, star anise, lemon, alcohol give different color shades to tomato jam.
Tomato jam - general principles of preparation
Ripe, but strong red fruits are selected from tomato for making jam. They need to be washed in cool water, and then peeled off. The easiest way is blanching in boiling water. It is necessary to lower the fruit for two to three minutes in boiling water, after having previously cut the skin crosswise at the place of attachment of the stem. Then take out and pour over with cold water. After a contrasting “bath”, the peel will easily separate from the tomato.
Often a couple of tomatoes in the jam are citrus fruits. They give the dessert a festive aroma and a more refined taste. Oranges and lemons should be thoroughly washed, rinsed with boiling water, then peeled and be sure to remove the flesh from the seeds. If you do not remove the seeds, then the jam will turn out bitter.
The ginger included in the recipe must be washed thoroughly and finely grated. Large ginger slices can ruin the look of the product.
Tomatoes cut into small pieces should be covered with sugar, mixed with chopped fruits and spices, cook over low heat, like regular jam. For syrup, you can take both water and tomato juice. Water will make the final product more liquid and light. Cooking, as a rule, takes place in two or three stages with an interval of several hours.
If possible, you can add dry pectin to the jam. This will reduce the time for evaporation of the liquid, and the dessert will turn out to be thick.
Tomato jam is well stored at normal room temperature. You can try it immediately after cooling completely.
Tomato Jam "Apple-Lemon"
Fresh festive aroma has tomato jam with apples and lemon. Cooking it is very simple. Traditional and exotic fruits turn tomatoes into a wonderful sweet and sour dessert that is perfect for a family tea party.
Ingredients:
• a pound of tomatoes;
• a pound of sugar;
• one or two sour apples;
• one lemon.
Cooking method:
Select fleshy ripe tomatoes.
Peel as described above.
So that no one guesses about the tomato origin of the jam, you need to remove the seeds. You can cut out the middle with a small knife or rub the tomato pulp through a sieve or colander.
Grind tomatoes in a blender, turning into a thick puree.
Remove the lemon peel, squeeze the juice from the rest of the fruit.
Mix tomato puree with sugar, lemon juice and zest, leave everything overnight in a cool place. Cover the container with prepared mashed potatoes with a napkin or towel.
Peel the apple peel and rub the apple through a fine grater.
Transfer the tomato base and grated apple puree into a cooking pot. Cook until cooked for about forty minutes.
At the end of cooking, you can pour a glass of rum or cognac into the jam - this is done in sunny Italy.
Arrange chilled jam in sterilized jars.
Store under nylon or metal lids in a cool place.
Tomato Jam "Citrus Ginger"
The dessert of red juicy tomatoes, oranges, lemons and ginger has a wonderful, refined aroma. Vanilla gives the delicacy an oriental touch. Tomato jam can be served with pastries, tea or used to make desserts.
Ingredients:
• a kilogram of red strong tomatoes;
• kilogram of sugar;
• one lemon;
• one orange;
• a bag of vanilla sugar or vanillin;
• half a teaspoon of dried ginger or a slice of fresh.
Cooking method
Cut peeled tomatoes into small pieces.
Remove the peel from the orange and lemon, take out the bones, cut the fruit into small cubes.
Grate fresh ginger on a fine grater, removing the skin.
In a large cooking pot, mix the tomatoes, citruses, sugar and ginger, leave for an hour to isolate the juice.
Sugar should melt in juice and become the basis for syrup.
Cook the sweet mass after boiling for five minutes. Cool completely for an hour.
Put the pot on the fire again, cook at a slow boil for another half hour.
Tomato and citrus jam immediately put in jars and cool.
Tomato jam "Kiwi slices"
Green tomatoes produce no less tasty original jam. It can be confused with a kiwi dessert. The taste is spicy, although nothing but tomatoes and sugar is part of this delicacy. Such jam made of tomatoes "Kiwi slices" can be used for filling or decorating pies, making unusual desserts.
Ingredients:
• a kilogram of green tomatoes;
• six glasses of sugar;
• one and a half glasses of water (300 grams).
Cooking method:
Cook syrup from water and sugar. To do this, pour sugar into the water and cook at a slow boil until smooth.
If the tomatoes are small, they can be left whole. Larger ones should be cut into two to four parts.
Pour the tomatoes with chilled syrup, leave for a day, covering with a towel.
The next day, pour the syrup into a separate pot, wait for boiling and pour the tomatoes. Leave again for a day.
Repeat strainer syrup and pour again. Leave again for a day.
Without draining the syrup, put the pot with tomatoes on the fire and cook until tender. Tomatoes should become transparent, and the syrup is thick enough.
To check the readiness of the dessert, you need to leave a drop of syrup on paper. If it does not spread and the paper does not get wet, the dessert is completely ready.
Tomato jam "Emerald Ice"
Jam made from green tomatoes and lemon has a fresher taste. It can be served with pancakes or just for tea, used as a filling for the "Friendly Family" or open cakes. Due to the lemon, the taste of the dessert becomes more pronounced, pleasant, acquires a gentle sourness.
Ingredients:
• a kilogram of green tomatoes;
• kilogram of sugar;
• one lemon;
• A bag of vanilla or vanilla sugar (optional).
Cooking method:
Cut washed tomatoes into small slices, put in a plastic bag or plastic container and put in the freezer.
When the tomatoes are completely frozen, they need to be removed and wait until completely thawed.
Drain the resulting juice.
Scroll the lemon in a meat grinder along with the peel.
Mix tomatoes, sugar and lemon, put overnight or for ten hours in the refrigerator.
Transfer the tomato base to the pan, bring to a boil and cook for fifteen minutes. Cool for two hours.
Repeat cooking two more times, followed by two hours of cooling.
Put the cooled jam in jars and remove for storage.
Tomato Jam with Basil
Fragrant tomato and basil jam can truly surprise guests. The original taste of this dessert will be remembered for a long time. A wonderful recipe is worthy of "registration" in the cookbook of every skilled housewife.
Ingredients:
• kilogram of ripe tomatoes;
• kilogram of sugar;
• 40 grams of dry pectin;
• juice of one lemon (a third of a glass);
• four tablespoons of finely chopped basil.
Cooking method:
Peel the tomatoes from the peel and seeds (for this recipe, the middle of the seed is better to cut with a small vegetable knife).
Cut tomatoes into small slices.
Put the tomatoes in a pan and simmer, covering with a lid, over low heat for about ten minutes.
Finely chop the basil.
Squeeze juice from lemon.
When the tomatoes are boiled to a puree state, add lemon juice and greens to them.
Mix sugar and pectin separately, gradually add to the boiling tomato base.
Give jam a minute to boil, and turn off the heat.
If foam has formed, remove it and pour the dessert into prepared jars.
Sterilize the jars, seal them with metal lids, and put them in the pantry.
Tomato Jam "Fragrant Dessert"
Neat cherry tomatoes are exactly what you need for a delicious, beautiful, original dessert. If you cook them in lemon syrup with allspice, you get fantastic tomato jam!
Ingredients:
• a pound of cherry tomatoes;
• a pound of sugar;
• two tablespoons of lemon juice;
• half a teaspoon of ground allspice;
• glass of water.
Cooking method:
Wash the cherry tomatoes, carefully separating them from the twigs.
Cook syrup from sugar and water as described above. The pan should immediately take a large one, as dessert will be cooked in it.
Submerge the cherry in boiled sugar.
Boil the tomatoes for five minutes, turn off the fire, leave the pan for five hours.
Repeat cooking three times, each time boiling the tomatoes for five minutes and leaving for four to eight hours.
Put the cooled jam in jars.
Tomato jam with star anise
Lemon flavor of star anise - a highlight of tomato jam and real lemon. For cooking, you need to take small cherry. They will retain their shape and become a real decoration of the festive table.
Ingredients:
• two kilograms of cherry tomatoes;
• 850 grams of sugar;
• star anise star;
• one lemon;
• juice of half a lemon.
Cooking method:
Peel the tomatoes.
Cut the lemon into thin rings or half rings.
Put tomatoes and lemon in a deep pot, add sugar, put star anise.
Boil the mixture over medium heat for exactly an hour (after boiling), stirring surely.
Turn off the fire and leave for a day in the pan.
The next day, squeeze the juice from half a lemon and pour into the jam. Stir.
Put the pot on the fire again, and after boiling, cook for another hour, not forgetting the stirring.
Transfer the jam into prepared jars, cork and clean in a cool pantry.
Tomato Jam - Tips and Tricks
- If the jam is cooked without water, then it is better to mix the ingredients immediately in a cooking pan. It should be enameled and deep enough. So you don’t have to pour the juice and shift the slices after the sugar has dissolved.
- Jam with star anise is very fragrant. It make up the perfect company for cheese and meat.
- Peel tomatoes from the skin can be "two-bowl method." It is necessary to prepare containers with boiling water and crushed ice. The first bowl should stand on the stove (water is boiling in it). Having incised the skin, dip the tomatoes in turn into boiling water for literally a minute and immediately transfer to a bowl of ice water. The peel is easily removed.
- If there is no fresh ginger, you can use dry powder. This does not change the taste of the finished dessert.
- The cut core of tomatoes with seeds does not need to be thrown away. It can be used to make scrambled eggs, vegetable soup or served with boiled potatoes, mixed with garlic, salt and herbs.
