Tip - How to Peel and Seed a Tomato

If you cook tomatoes in a sauce with their skins on, the skin will just slip off as it cooks. You end up with tough ribbons of skin. If you peel and seed the tomato first, you'll have a smoother, more elegant sauce.



This is what you'll need:

Tomatoes
Pot of boiling water
Slotted Spoon
Ice bath (a bowl of ice water)
Pairing knife (optional)

Follow these simple steps to peel the tomatoes:



1. Gently drop the tomatoes into a large pot of bowling water. Do not over crowd the pot.



2. Stir.

3. After about 30 seconds, remove the tomatoes from the boiling water.



4. Immediately place the tomatoes in the ice bath.



5. Remove the tomatoes from the water and place on a cutting board.

6. Using your fingers, slid the skin off the meat of the tomato. It should slip right off.






7. If the skin doesn't come off easily, use the tip of a pairing knife to cut around the equator of the tomato. Then hold the skin in the center and pull the top half of the skin up. Repeat with the bottom half.






To seed smaller tomatoes, I cut them in half down the center, not touching either end. Then, I use my pairing knife to scoop the seeds out and into a bowl.




For larger tomatoes, cut in half the same way as a smaller one, then squeeze the seeds out over a bowl. Or, you can use a spoon to scoop them out.


Now you should have the meat of the tomato read for your recipe. I throw the skins in my vegetable stock and I like to use the seeds on salads. What will you do with them?




Euro's helping me peal tomatoes on Halloween.