How to Blanche Tomatoes
Blanching is a common culinary technique in which fruits and vegetables are cooked briefly and intensely, allowing them to retain their color, flavor, crispness and nutritional value. In the case of tomatoes, blanching also makes them incredibly easy to peel. The process described on this page can be used to blanch most types of produce. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Fill a large pot with enough water to cover the tops of all of the tomatoes you wish to blanch. Add a sprinkle of salt and bring the water to a boil over high heat.
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While the water is coming to a boil, add a few handfuls of ice to a large bowl and fill it with cold water, creating an icy bath. Don't fill the bowl too much; you'll need to add your tomatoes to the water shortly, and you don't want it to overflow.
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Wash all of your tomatoes thoroughly, and be sure to remove any produce stickers that may be on them.
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With the pot at a rolling boil, carefully add the tomatoes to the water one at a time. They only need to boil for about one minute, so watch them carefully. Remove each tomato with a large slotted spoon after roughly a minute or when you can see the skin start to bubble and peel off, whichever comes first.
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As you remove the tomatoes, place each one immediately into the bath of ice water. Once all of the tomatoes have been moved to the cold water, adjust and turn each one so that the entire surface area of each tomato gets submerged for at least a few seconds.
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Once the tomatoes have fully cooled, you can simply peel away the skin with your fingers. If you've blanched your tomatoes properly, the skins will offer no resistance. Some may even float away while in the cold bath.
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Tips & Warnings
Be extraordinarily careful not to splash yourself or others with boiling water when adding or removing the tomatoes from the pot. You can use a slotted spoon to lower the tomatoes into the pot without splashing.
