Pickled Pink
Using up green tomatoes when summer’s over
The first summer we lived in Alaska, my wife Lin was in our local Carrs grocery store foraging for a salad tomato. We’d just moved here from Nevada where ...
Adapted and used with permission from Preserving Italy by Domenica Marchetti
Ingredients
- A couple pounds of hard green tomatoes
- ½ cup pickling and canning salt
- 4 or 5 garlic cloves, crushed
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds and/or chiles to taste
Preparation
Core the tough stem-end of the tomatoes, and cut them into easy-to-eat sized slices, about ½-inch thick.
Mix tomato slices, garlic, any spices, and the salt in a bowl.
Layer salted slices in a non-reactive container (a large ceramic crock, glass jar, or deep bowl). Place a round of parchment on top and press it down onto slices. Put a flat plate about the diameter of the container on top of the parchment. Weight the plate with something heavy (a gallon paint can, a pail of rocks, etc).
Put the crock(s) in a cool place for two weeks (we use our unheated garage), covered with plastic trash bags.
After the two-week ferment, the pickles will have flattened some. Rinse in a colander, and remove the garlic.
Pack the rinsed tomatoes in sterilized jars and cover with olive oil, use a clean chopstick to remove any air bubbles, and make sure everything is submerged in oil.
They are ready to eat right away. Refrigerate for up to 3 months (we’ve had them last closer to a year).
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