Did you even know there was a difference in summer and fall tomatoes? The best way to use fall tomatoes might surprise you.

This was the year when I realized it myself. We planted fall tomatoes to replace our spent summer plants. The summer tomatoes were sweet and wonderful, especially the Cherokee Purple. Find them if you haven’t had them. Blow your mind! But the fall tomatoes – help!

So we assumed the same from our fall varieties. But alas, not to be. The fall tomatoes have an acidity and tartness I did not expect. Adjustments must be made.

There are a few different ways to combat the acidity. The skins are the culprit. You can peel your tomatoes by cutting a shallow “X” just through the skin of the bottom of the tomato and placing them in boiling water for about 30 seconds.

Remove with a slotted spoon, and drop in a bowl of ice water to stop any cooking.

The skin will start to pull away from the meat on the bottom. Remove from the ice water, and gently peel the skin off. And there you have it! Ready to go!

Then you can use fall tomatoes for a multitude of things. Puree the tomatoes and store them in mason jars for the refrigerator or freezer.

I make tomato soup, which my husband adores, also make pizza sauce, which he loves. Yes, he’s my biggest fan.

Make sure you always taste as you cook. For these fall tomatoes, you will need some sort of sweetness to counter the acidity. This will also be the case for tomatoes you get from the store that are too tart for your recipes. I use organic pure cane sugar, agave nectar, or honey. All three have a very specific taste, so keep that in mind when trying to create a certain flavor profile.

Pizza Sauce:

3 tablespoons evoo

2 lbs. fresh tomatoes, peeled as above and chopped

1/2 white onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon dried oregano

pinch of sugar

sea salt and pepper to taste

1 small bunch fresh basil, chopped

In a heavy bottomed skillet, heat the evoo over medium heat. When it starts to shimmer add your onions and sauté for 8-10 minutes. Let the onions start to get brown on the edges, then add the garlic and stir. Cook for another minute, not letting the garlic sit in one place or it will burn.

Add your tomatoes, oregano, 1 tsp. sea salt and 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, a pinch of sugar to taste and simmer for at least 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Keep an eye on this so it doesn’t get dry. Fall tomatoes are not as juicy as summer ones. The tomatoes should provide enough moisture. If not, add a tablespoon of water at a time to keep moist but not loose.

Taste and see if is what you are expecting. Nows the time to tweak the seasonings to suit your taste. Some like it sweeter, some don’t.

When the flavor profile is where you want it, add your chopped basil and stir in. Let the sauce cool off before putting it in a glass container to refrigerate or freeze. Tomatoes are acidic, so you don’t want to store them in plastic.

Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions. If I don’t know, I’ll find out for you!

Until next time,

Be Ageless! Be Happy!

Christia