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Every housewife, preparing supplies for the winter, always dreams of some unusual dish that could surprise guests at a dinner party, and of reviving traditional, time-tested recipes that are usually passed down from generation to generation. It seems that an example of such a preparation would be a recipe for green tomatoes pickled for the winter.
On the one hand, few people now deal with green tomatoes; some even leave them on the bushes to freeze for the winter or feed them to animals, not suspecting that they can be used to make a variety of delicious things. On the other hand, back in Soviet times we sometimes met in stores green tomatoes, and connoisseurs understood that it was difficult to find a more tasty and savory snack in the winter.
Of course, green tomatoes cannot be cut into salads like their ripe counterparts. It can be not only tasteless, but even dangerous to health, due to the increased content of the toxin solanine. But they seem to have been created by nature itself for salting and pickling for the winter. Because it is during the process of salting or cooking that solanine is destroyed, and tomatoes acquire the taste of all the spices and seasonings with which they are pickled.
A simple recipe for preparing green tomatoes, Soviet style
Such canned green tomatoes could be found in stores in Soviet times, and their sharp and sour taste can be remembered by preparing tomatoes according to this recipe.
For a three-liter jar you need:
- 2 kg of green tomatoes;
- A small pod of hot pepper;
- 6-7 allspice peas and 12-13 black pepper;
- 2-3 bay leaves;
- About two liters of water;
- 100 grams of sugar and salt;
- 1 teaspoon of 70% vinegar essence.
To begin with, the jar should be thoroughly washed and sterilized. Tomatoes are also washed first in cold, then in warm water. All the spices are placed at the bottom of a sterile jar and the tomatoes are placed very tightly there.
After this, the water is drained, the resulting volume is measured and sugar and salt are added to it, based on the fact that for each liter you need 50 grams of both spices. The mixture is again heated to a boil, poured back into the jar, vinegar essence is added to it, and the jars are immediately rolled up with sterile lids. The workpieces require additional sterilization under a blanket, turned upside down.
And they can be stored at any temperature, but without exposure to sunlight.
Recipe "Garlic bouquet"
This recipe makes it very tasty to pickle green tomatoes for the winter for your beloved husband, since men usually love tomatoes with garlic. To prepare a snack from 5 kg of tomatoes, you need to find several heads of medium-sized garlic, 100 g of dill herb with inflorescences, 6 laurel leaves, 2 glasses of table vinegar 9%, 125 g of sugar and 245 g of salt.
Using a sharp knife, cut out the place where the stalk attaches from each tomato and insert a small clove of garlic inside.
If you accidentally damage a tomato and cut it completely, you can use it to prepare a snack salad according to the recipe below.
Each tomato should be stuffed with garlic. To make the marinade, dissolve all the spices and herbs in 6 liters of water, add vinegar and bring it to a boil. Carefully place the tomatoes and garlic into the jars, interspersing them with dill. Fill the jars with boiling marinade, immediately roll them up and leave them, as always, under a blanket to cool. It is still better to store such a workpiece in a room where the temperature does not exceed +18°C.
Snack tomatoes
According to this simple recipe, green tomatoes marinated for the winter do not cook too quickly, but they make an excellent appetizer.
If you have 2 kg of green tomatoes, then for them prepare 2 pods of hot red pepper, 3 heads of garlic, 175 ml of 9% table vinegar, 30 g of salt and 70 g of sugar.
To pickle tomatoes, the container must be thoroughly washed with baking soda, then rinsed with boiling water. Well-washed tomatoes are cut into small pieces of the same size - it is best to cut each tomato into 4 parts, and then each part into 2 more halves.
The marinade is prepared even without adding water.First, salt and sugar are dissolved in the required amount of vinegar. Hot peppers and garlic are freed from all unnecessary parts and finely chopped. It is best to grind them using a meat grinder. Then they are added to the vinegar and spice mixture and everything is mixed well.
Pieces of chopped tomatoes are placed in a marinating container, the marinade mixture is added to them, and they are thoroughly mixed with each other. On top you need to find and place a plate of a suitable size, and a load on it.
Leave the container with green tomatoes in this form for 24 hours. After this time has expired, the load can be removed, and the tomatoes along with the marinade can be transferred to small sterile jars and refrigerated. After 2 weeks, the dish is completely ready to decorate the holiday table.
Tomatoes "Miracle"
You can pickle green tomatoes for the winter using different technologies, but children especially like this recipe, perhaps due to its delicate sweetish taste, or perhaps due to the use of gelatin.
In order to marinate about 1000 g of green tomatoes you need to select:
- 2 medium onions;
- 5 cloves of garlic;
- 10 pieces of cloves and 7 bay leaves;
- 20 peas of allspice;
- A teaspoon of citric acid;
- 5 grams of cinnamon;
- 60 grams of salt;
- 100 grams of sugar;
- 15-20 grams of gelatin;
- 1 liter of water.
The first step is to soak the gelatin in a small amount of moderately warm water for 30-40 minutes.While the gelatin is swelling in water, wash and cut the tomatoes into 2 parts if they are too large.
Place on the bottom of well-sterilized jars, cut into rings, and garlic, chopped into thin slices. Add peppercorns and cloves to them. Next, fill the jar with tomatoes, shaking the contents as you fill. Arrange the tomatoes with bay leaves.
To make the marinade, dissolve citric acid, salt and sugar in water, heat the mixture to a boil, add the swollen gelatin and bring to a boil again. Pour the prepared hot marinade over the tomatoes with spices and leave the jars to sterilize for 8-12 minutes. And then seal it tightly.
Miracle tomatoes turn out to be extremely tender, and the dish itself attracts with its unusual appearance.
Recipe with filling
You can’t even say right away what is more attractive in the finished dish prepared according to this recipe – the tomatoes themselves or the filling with which they are stuffed. Few appetizers can boast such a variety of ingredients, and all together they make up a stunning bouquet of flavors that is unlikely to leave a connoisseur of pickled salads indifferent.
Start by preparing the green tomatoes. According to the recipe, you will need about 5 kg of them. Don't forget to wash the tomatoes properly.
Next you have to find the following components:
- Sweet pepper, preferably red – 800 g;
- Zucchini – 100 g;
- Hot pepper – 2 pods;
- Red onion – 500 g;
- 50 grams of the following greens: dill, celery, basil, parsley;
- Garlic – 2-3 heads;
- Carrots – 200 g;
- Eggplants – 150 g.
All vegetables must be washed, peeled and cut into small pieces. It is possible to use a meat grinder for this purpose.
At the same time, most of the pulp is removed from the cut tomatoes, also crushed and mixed with other vegetables and herbs.
The resulting filling already has an attractive appearance and a divine aroma. The vegetable filling is tightly packed into the tomato cuts and the tomatoes themselves are well compacted into pre-sterilized jars.
Now it’s time for the marinade. To fill 5 kg of tomatoes you will need about 4-6 liters of water. It is better to prepare the marinade with a small reserve.
For one liter of water, use 60 grams of salt, and one teaspoon each of 9% vinegar and granulated sugar.
After you heat the mixture of water with salt and sugar to a boil, remove it from the heat and add the required amount of vinegar.
Pour the marinade into the jars of tomatoes while it has not yet cooled down. If you are going to store this product in the room, then it is advisable to additionally sterilize it in boiling water. For liter jars, 20-30 minutes after boiling water is enough. If you have extra space in the refrigerator or a cold cellar, then after pouring the marinade, the jars with filled tomatoes are immediately closed with sterile lids and wrapped until cool.
Recipe with beets and apples
This recipe is distinguished not only by its original taste, but also by its color, which will not leave your family and guests indifferent. And everything is prepared quite simply.
- Wash and remove stems and seeds from 0.5 kg of green tomatoes and 0.2 kg of apples. And then cut them both in slices and place in a sterilized jar.
- Peel one small beet, cut into thin slices and add to the apples and tomatoes in a jar.
- Heat the water to +100°C, pour boiling water over the vegetables and apples and leave until the water cools completely.
- Carefully drain the water from the jar, add to it 30 g of salt, 100 g of sugar, and spices to your taste - allspice, cloves, bay leaf.
- Bring the marinade to a boil, boil for 4-5 minutes, add 100 grams of 6% vinegar.
- Pour the hot marinade over the vegetables and apples, close the lids tightly and cool.
Among the many recipes presented, you can definitely find something to your liking. Or maybe you want to try all the ways to pickle green tomatoes for the winter. And one of them will become your favorite signature recipe.
