Recipes for cherry tomato bounty

August 24, 2024 8:30 AM

I once again have too many vegetables from my little backyard garden. This year it’s gold cherry tomatoes. I’m looking for recipes to use them up, but ideally as low-acid as possible. (Can you even make tomatoes lower acid?)

I get acid reflux/heartburn and will deal with the pain if I have to but would love some recipes that reduce the acidity naturally in tomatoes, if such a thing exists. Vegetarian, please, but otherwise no restrictions.

posted by misskaz to Food & Drink (17 answers total)

Can you even make tomatoes lower acid?
cook 'em a while, not too long [wikihow]
/
bread, mayo, salt (smoked, ideally) & basil
posted by HearHere at 8:39 AM on August 24

I use a bunch of mine in Chinese tomato egg stir-fry.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:42 AM on August 24 [1 favorite]

We traditionally roast a good portion of our cherry tomato harvest, then pack them in jars of olive oil. Kept in the fridge, they last a surprisingly long time. We mainly put them on pasta, but they also do well on sandwiches, on pizza, in sauces, etc.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:43 AM on August 24 [9 favorites]

This is our go-to when we have a similar bounty: Martha Stewart's Tomato Cobbler.

Lot of tomatoes makes an acidic meal, no doubt, but I think cooking them improves that, first, and second there's a lot of savory in this particular dish. But acid reflux is not a problem I have, so I'm not sure what value my opinion has here.
posted by AbelMelveny at 8:44 AM on August 24 [1 favorite]

We make garlic-roasted cherry tomatoes and serve it over pasta or as a dip, because this recipe is both delicious and also great at making heaps of cherry tomatoes disappear without much work.
posted by zizania at 8:57 AM on August 24

No reason why you can't use those suckers in gazpacho! If you do, I strongly recommend a suggestion from a chef friend: toasted, salted pumpkin seeds on top.
posted by Dr. Wu at 10:32 AM on August 24 [2 favorites]

I put some baking soda in tomato dishes when i want to reduce the acidity without just covering it up. It might be placebo effect, though— i don’t add very much!
posted by supercres at 11:05 AM on August 24

I like burst cherry tomato pasta--do a search, there are lots of recipe variations and I don't recall the one I used.
posted by indexy at 11:13 AM on August 24 [1 favorite]

Clafoutis!
posted by hollyholly at 11:39 AM on August 24 [2 favorites]

Penne with Cherry Tomatoes, Garlic, and Basil
posted by jgirl at 1:22 PM on August 24 [1 favorite]

This week we made this peach cobbler recipe twice, adding a tablespoon of fresh rosemary (chopped fairly fine with kitchen scissors) to the crust. I'm sure that substituting tomatoes for the peaches will result in a more savory version that'll find favor with my eaters, although I don't know whether they'll want it with ice cream. Time & circumstance permitting, I'll let y'all know 🤞
posted by kingless at 1:38 PM on August 24

Roasted cherry tomatoes pair very nicely with white beans, garlic, and olive oil.
posted by kdar at 1:46 PM on August 24

Best answer: roasted cherry tomatoes with mint (Epicurious)
slow-cooker cherry tomato sauce (Brooklyn Farm Girl) / 30-minute, adaptable cherry tomato sauce (Erren's Kitchen) (Tips to make any tomato sauce less acidic - butter; cream; baking soda; carrots; caramelized onions...)
weeknight tomato soup (smitten kitchen)
posted by Iris Gambol at 6:46 PM on August 24

eat them straight from vine to mouth
posted by Jacqueline at 7:31 PM on August 24

I also have GERD and find that adding dairy tends to mitigate acid (like adding cream to your coffee). So I would eat them in recipes involving cheese, or make cream of tomato soup.
posted by branca at 6:18 AM on August 25 [1 favorite]

A few years ago a recipe went viral that was basically "bake cherry tomatoes with a slab of feta cheese, serve with pasta". My kids and I did this a few days ago with cherry tomatoes right off the vine and it was fantastic. Will be doing it again a few times soon: we have a sweet 100 plant that is approximately the size of a couch that is full of fruit, and I just bought a pound of feta...

I think it's pretty easy to just riff on it--olive oil, salt/pepper, red pepper flakes if you want? bake at 400 until it's as done as you like, maybe just warmed through, maybe til the tomatoes cook down a bit and the feta is turning golden? sprinkle some basil on top when you serve it with the pasta?
posted by Sublimity at 6:33 AM on August 25 [2 favorites]

Tomato jam! I make it with cherry tomatoes any time I have too many. I live in the coastal PNW and alas too many tomatoes is not a problem I will ever have again unless I put in some sort of greenhouse, but back when I lived in NC, this was my go to. Here is Mark Bittman's, which doesn't seem to be exactly the same as the one I use, but it sounds really good. And this is Food in Jars version, which might be closer. I don't remember the hot pepper flakes but I can see them being a great addition!
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:21 PM on August 25