If youre putting up a bumper crop of tomatoes, or even just making a huge pot of sauce with them, well, first of all, I envy you. (Alas—our tomato plants got swamped with rain this summer and whatever fruit didnt rot on the vine was carried away by rodents. Such is urban farming.) But if you—or the farmers at your local market—were more fortunate with your tomato harvest this year, youre probably dreading the time youll have to spend blanching, chilling, and peeling all those pounds of tomatoes before cooking or canning them. Is this step even necessary?
The tomato skin is a different texture from the tomato flesh, and will remain so in sauces and purées—youll get tiny chunks of skin instead of an uniformly smooth mixture. Moreover, the tomato skin is heavy in a kind of nutrient called flavonols, which impart a bitter flavor. (More on this below.) Whether either of these conditions bothers you or not is entirely your thing. If you want to go by the book, a few questions to guide you: Do you hope these tomatoes will resemble something like a sauce when everything is through? Then you probably want to peel them. Same goes if youre canning tomatoes for a later time, when theyll probably be turned into a sauce. Though its completely a matter of preference, for the smoothest, mellowest sauce, you might consider peeling.Why wouldnt you peel tomatoes?
Obviously theres no reason to peel tomatoes that are going into something like a salad, or sliced onto a grilled cheese sandwich: the skin is what helps everything hang together. Ditto tomatoes youre slow-roasting in the oven; if you remove the skin theyll just melt away.
But regardless of how youre preparing them, theres another reason you might not want to peel your tomatoes: those flavonols we mentioned. Theyre a kind of plant-based antioxidant and, as mentioned earlier, like other plants that are good for you, they impart a bitter flavor. But studies have linked flavonols with lower risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other age-related complications, and you wont get much of them if you peel your tomatoes—up to 98 percent of flavonols found in tomatoes were found in the skin. So keeping your tomato intact will maximize its nutritional value to you. (Alternately you can save the skin for later use.)
Oh, and also: peeling tomatoes is sort of annoying. But if you must…How do you peel tomatoes?
Well—the process doesnt have to be that fussy, actually. All you do is this: Bring a pot of water to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water. With a sharp knife, score each tomato on the bottom (that is, not the stem end), making an X. Drop tomatoes into boiling water and cook for 1 minute before removing with a slotted spoon and plunging immediately into the ice water to stop the cooking. The skin should slide right off. And if not, well, it might even do you some good.
But, if you’re making a fresh tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes, the tomatoes should be peeled, cored, and seeded. The result will be a smoother sauce without any seeds, core, or peel in it. Don’t worry, it’s an easy and quick process.
Before making this sauce, I had always poured pretty much everything from a can. Nothing wrong with that. That’s the way most grandmothers do it, I’m sure. But, the taste of a tomato sauce made with fresh tomatoes… Oh, my. You have GOT to experience it, at least once.
First things first, though. In order to get your tomatoes ready for mashing into a marvelous tomato sauce, you need to peel and seed them. Don’t worry, it’s very easy and quick to do.
1. Remove the small green stalk from each tomato, if there is one. Cut a cross in the top of each tomato. With a paring knife, remove the hard, green core of the tomatoes.
Maybe my grandkids could then start a food blog of their own and refer to their grandmother with the bomb-diggity tomato sauce.
Dried herbs hold their flavor much longer than fresh herbs when slow-cooking. If you want to use fresh herbs, add them at the end of the cooking process, just before serving.
Obviously theres no reason to peel tomatoes that are going into something like a salad, or sliced onto a grilled cheese sandwich: the skin is what helps everything hang together. Ditto tomatoes youre slow-roasting in the oven; if you remove the skin theyll just melt away.
Well—the process doesnt have to be that fussy, actually. All you do is this: Bring a pot of water to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water. With a sharp knife, score each tomato on the bottom (that is, not the stem end), making an X. Drop tomatoes into boiling water and cook for 1 minute before removing with a slotted spoon and plunging immediately into the ice water to stop the cooking. The skin should slide right off. And if not, well, it might even do you some good.
The tomato skin is a different texture from the tomato flesh, and will remain so in sauces and purées—youll get tiny chunks of skin instead of an uniformly smooth mixture. Moreover, the tomato skin is heavy in a kind of nutrient called flavonols, which impart a bitter flavor. (More on this below.) Whether either of these conditions bothers you or not is entirely your thing. If you want to go by the book, a few questions to guide you: Do you hope these tomatoes will resemble something like a sauce when everything is through? Then you probably want to peel them. Same goes if youre canning tomatoes for a later time, when theyll probably be turned into a sauce. Though its completely a matter of preference, for the smoothest, mellowest sauce, you might consider peeling.Why wouldnt you peel tomatoes?
If youre putting up a bumper crop of tomatoes, or even just making a huge pot of sauce with them, well, first of all, I envy you. (Alas—our tomato plants got swamped with rain this summer and whatever fruit didnt rot on the vine was carried away by rodents. Such is urban farming.) But if you—or the farmers at your local market—were more fortunate with your tomato harvest this year, youre probably dreading the time youll have to spend blanching, chilling, and peeling all those pounds of tomatoes before cooking or canning them. Is this step even necessary?
But regardless of how youre preparing them, theres another reason you might not want to peel your tomatoes: those flavonols we mentioned. Theyre a kind of plant-based antioxidant and, as mentioned earlier, like other plants that are good for you, they impart a bitter flavor. But studies have linked flavonols with lower risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other age-related complications, and you wont get much of them if you peel your tomatoes—up to 98 percent of flavonols found in tomatoes were found in the skin. So keeping your tomato intact will maximize its nutritional value to you. (Alternately you can save the skin for later use.)
Our Routine + Easy (No peel!) Tomato Sauce
FAQ
Do tomatoes need to be peeled for marinara sauce?
Can I leave the skins on tomatoes when making sauce?
Do Italians peel tomatoes for sauce?
Is it OK to not peel tomatoes?
What is fresh tomato marinara sauce?
Fresh Tomato Marinara Sauce is a simple yet delicious sauce made with fresh tomatoes, garlic, onion, and herbs. While there are many variations of marinara sauce, nothing tastes better than homemade spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes! One of the benefits of making fresh sauce with tomatoes is that you can control the quality of the ingredients.
How do you peel Tomatoes?
Mark an X with a knife on the bottom of the tomatoes and put them in hot water for 3 to 5 minutes. Pro tip – the cut on the tomato will cause the skin to open making it easier to peel. Take them out with a slotted spoon and put them in cold water. Drain and cool the tomatoes until barely warm. Peel the skin with the edge of your knife.
How do you make marinara sauce from a ripe tomato?
Make an “X” at the cored end of the tomato. Drop into rapidly boiling water for 30 seconds tops. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate . Once cool to the touch, peel the tomato from the top down . After peeling, gently squeeze the tomato to extract the seeds. Practically any fresh ripe tomato can be used to make marinara sauce.
How long does it take to make tomato marinara sauce?
Make a fresh tomato marinara sauce from those fresh cherry or heirloom tomatoes! Dinner will be on the table in less than 30 minutes! 2 lbs fresh tomatoes, heirloom, garden, cherry, Romapretty much any will do! Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil.