Peeling Tomatoes

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I live in Peru, and a lot of things I took for granted when cooking are either not available or are so expensive they just aren't always worth buying. One of those things is canned tomatoes. They're here, but they're too expensive to use as a regular ingredient. So, I started using regular ripe tomatoes a lot more often, and it's actually so easy, I've come to prefer using them over the canned for most things. Here, then, is my way of preparing my tomatoes.

I start with a glass casserole dish (2 quart). Add water to nearly fill, then put the top on and stick it in the microwave long enough to get the water just to boiling. CAREFULLY remove it from the micro! While the water nukes, take your tomatoes and cut a X-shaped slice in the bottom of each one. (Of course, you can always do this on the stove top in a saucepan- I prefer the microwave because I have a super tiny stove, and am usually cooking other things while I do this)

Again, very carefully, using a spoon, lower the tomatoes into the water and leave them for about 30 seconds or so. Doesn't matter if you leave them longer, since usually you'll be cooking them later anyway. Take them out, run them under cool water so you can touch them, and then peel the skin off, starting at your little X-slice. You'll find the skin will slip right off.

Once you've got your tomatoes peeled, it's a simple matter to just crush them by hand and clean the seeds out of them. If you want, once you have the seeds out, use a knife to cut up the bigger pieces.

And there you go, fresh tomatoes, peeled and deseeded and crushed, ready to add to your recipe. You can add this to soup recipes in place of canned tomatoes. Just remember that you'll need to adjust seasonings, because this won't have any of the salt or other seasoning that canned tomatoes often have.

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