Although tomatoes can generally be eaten with their skin on, there are people for whom this skin is difficult to digest and causes stomach pain. They therefore skin their tomatoes before eating them. Skinned tomatoes are also easier to use in the kitchen for fine sauces, soups and purees.
What is the best way to skin tomatoes?
To skin tomatoes, wash them, remove the stem, score them crosswise, blanch them briefly in boiling water, then rinse them in cold water and peel off the skin with a knife. This makes them easier to digest and process.
Skinning tomatoes – step by step
When eating tomatoes fresh, removing the skin is not necessary unless the skin causes digestive problems. Tomatoes are often used as an addition to various roasts or as a base for sauces. During cooking, the tomato breaks down, but its skin does not overcook. Small or large pieces of skin are always visible in the dish. If you want to create a visually excellent menu, skin the tomatoes before using them.
- Wash the tomatoes under running water. The tomato should be ripe and firm. Mushy or already wrinkled specimens are difficult to skin.
- Remove any stem from the tomato as well as the base of the stem (use a sharp knife).
- Using a sharp knife, score the tomato in a cross shape opposite the base of the stem.
- Fill a pot with water and heat it.
- Once the water is boiling, put the tomatoes in it. It's best to use a slotted spoon for this.
- Let the tomatoes simmer in the water for about half a minute.
- Take out the tomato with the slotted spoon and immediately place it in a bowl of cold water. In this way, the cooking process that has begun is abruptly interrupted. The tomato remains firm, but its skin tears and can be peeled off in strips.
- Now use a sharp knife to peel off the skin of the tomato in strips.
Blanching tomatoes has, in addition to the fact that the skin can be easily removed, another beneficial side effect.
The brief heating and subsequent quenching slows down the ripening process in the tomato; it lasts longer in the refrigerator durable. It also refreshes the color of the tomato and by removing the skin you also remove the nitrates and residues of pesticides it contains. Skinned tomatoes not only look better, they are also he althier.
Skinning tomatoes in the microwave
This method saves time, but should be used with caution. You must not take your eyes off the device and actually only heat the tomatoes for a few seconds. If heated for too long, the tomatoes will burst and the interior of the microwave will resemble a battlefield.
- Wash your tomatoes and remove the stem and base.
- Score the tomato crosswise on the opposite side of the stem with a knife.
- Place the tomato on a plate in the microwave.
- Set the heating level to 650 watts. A higher wattage will cause the tomato to burst.
- Heat the tomato for 20 seconds. If the tomato stays in the cooking chamber for a longer time, it first becomes mushy and then it bursts.
- Take the tomato out of the microwave and peel off the skin in strips with the knife.
Use skinned tomatoes
The classic dish with skinned tomatoes is tomato sauce or tomato soup. To do this, after peeling the tomatoes, they are chopped and pureed with a blender.
For the sauce, sweat chopped onions and garlic and add the tomato puree. If the sauce is still too thick, you can refine it with a dash of red wine or cream. If you don't want alcohol or cream, pour in some vegetable broth. Taste the sauce and pour it over freshly cooked spaghetti. Sprinkle a little more grated Parmesan on top and the Italian pasta is ready.
For tomato soup, follow a similar procedure. Here too, sweat onions and garlic, add pureed tomato and extend the thick soup with broth. Refine the soup with a dash of cream. Season with s alt and pepper and finally sprinkle some chopped parsley on top. Cooked rice tastes good as a soup addition.
Tip
Skinned and pureed tomatoes can easily be frozen for up to a year. Color and taste are retained.
If you would like to add the skinned tomatoes to a mixed salad, it is advisable to remove the seeds from the tomatoes after skinning them. To do this, divide the tomato in half with a sharp knife and remove the seeds with a teaspoon.