There's Only One Way To Skin A Tomato

Skinning tomatoes is a detail that can be a matter of taste (some people won't eat tomatoes because they don't like the skins), presentation or relative necessity (when making a tomato sauce). It's a fun and easy technique.

Just make an X on the bottom of your tomatoes and throw them into a pot of boiling water for no more than a minute. Fish them out with a slotted spoon, plunge them into a bowl of cold water (or an ice bath), lift them directly back out, and peel back the skin with a knife or your fingers. It will slip off like a charm.

At this point, you can quarter your tomatoes and serve them. Or you can scoop out their seeds with a small spoon. Skinned, seeded tomatoes can be oven-dried or chopped and added to sauces.

Note: Since you are barely blanching the tomatoes, the boiled water will be virtually unadulterated, so don't throw it away: Use it to blanch another vegetable, or boil rice or pasta.

- Kristin Hohenadel blogging from rue Vieille du Temple, Paris, France. She can be reached at kristin @ apartmenttherapy . com

Comments (6)

Great photo! I love how the tomato flesh looks almost like watermelon. :)

Leah
The Jew & The Carrot
http://jcarrot.org

posted by The Jew And The Carrot on July 16th 2008 at 3:57am
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A MAPP gas torch is a wonderful thing. Several times hotter than propane, it'll torch the skin off without heating the tomato at all. I've got one with a nice trigger switch that turns it on and off instantly. Faster, and more dramatic, than bringing some water to boil. :)

posted by paanta on July 16th 2008 at 4:17am
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You can peel a tomato with a vegetable peeler if the tomato is firm enough and your peeler is sharp enough.

Only bad thing bad thing about blanching green vegetables in the tomato water is that they will turn out a little off-colored because the water is acidulated.

posted by art on July 16th 2008 at 4:35am
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When I was a child, we'd skin giant beefsteak tomatoes from the garden thusly: spear tomato with fork, hold over stove until skin blisters, peel. Sometimes the tomato would slide off, leading to a frantic scramble to re-spear the tomato before it caught on fire. Ahh childhood.

posted by squidlette on July 16th 2008 at 10:09am
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it's fun to slip the peel off of tomatoes (or peaches) using the x-cut method, but i've become a huge fan of the serrated peeler for fast, efficient peeling. it also prevents having to add heat to my already hot kitchen in the summer.

posted by vanessa.vichitvadakan on July 16th 2008 at 12:39pm
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I peel tomatoes and peaches with my OXO Serrated Peeler. I ordered it from Amazon, and it works better than I thought it would.

posted by amylou61 on July 17th 2008 at 2:40pm
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