What to do with tomato skins

September 1, 2007 4:59 PM

Oh my god, it's FINALLY tomato season, but what can I do with all these tomato skins?

I swear I read somewhere online within the last week or so that you can roast them in the oven and then grind them into a powder to sprinkle on things. But I can't find it anywhere.

Does anyone know what that recipe was, or failing that, something else to do with a bunch of tomato skins? I like to take them off when I make fresh tomato sauce, but they have a lot of flavor and it would be nice to use them for something.

posted by exceptinsects to food & drink (6 comments total)

Just dry them in the oven at low temp (200-250 F) and then grind them in an electric spice grinder (coffee grinder).

Here's an example of a dish using tomato powder
posted by rxrfrx at 5:23 PM on September 1, 2007 [5 favorites]

Grind 'em up and flavor a stew with it.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:03 PM on September 1, 2007

compost!
posted by thinkingwoman at 7:54 PM on September 1, 2007

Chop them up and throw them into the sauce.
posted by pracowity at 3:01 AM on September 2, 2007

"Finally tomato season"? Wow, we're just at the end of our season.

We processed a ton of tomatoes this year using a food mill, which removes both seeds and skins. We ran the waste through the mill a second time to grind out extra pulp, and then put the remaining waste (which was surprisingly little) in the compost bin.

Seriously, if you're processing a lot of tomatoes, treat yourself to this low-tech-yet-effective tool.
posted by MonkeyToes at 9:06 AM on September 2, 2007

I toss them in with all my onion root-ends, garlic stubs, potato peels, carrot peels, zucchini trimmings, parsley stems, etc., for making vegetable broth. (If you eat meat, use the bones and trimmings for great poultry or beef stock.)

I keep a plastic tub in the freezer and, whenever I cook, I toss in the tips and tails of aromatic vegetables (no brassica; they get too pungent). When the tub is full, I put them in a big pot over medium-high heat with drizzle of oil and a sprinkle of salt, let them soften and caramelize a tiny bit, then cover with water, bring to the barest boil, turn down the heat and simmer for half and hour or so.

Strain through a colander, pressing the solids before discarding them. Then strain through a fine sieve (or a coarse sieve lined with a coffee filter) and store in the freezer. Use it for soups, stews, and sauces. If you freeze it first in muffin tins, then pop out the resulting rounds to store in ziptop bags, you'll have little frozen pucks of broth on hand to toss into a sauce.

Though I do this year-round, the summer broth is quite distinct from the spring, autumn, and winter broth. The tomatoes add a lovely sweet, round flavor.
posted by Elsa at 2:24 PM on September 2, 2007 [2 favorites]