How to Make Fermented Cherry Tomato Bursts (A Crazy Delicious Way to Use Your Cherry Tomatoes!)
Cherry tomatoes are incredibly prolific, and if you’re like I am, you have trouble eating them all….or even giving them away fast enough! What to do with all these beautiful, sweet baby-sized tomatoes? Make fermented cherry tomato bursts! These little bombs of delicious juiciness literally burst in your mouth full of flavor and best of all….healthy probiotics from the fermentation process. Read on for the recipe!
You’ll just love these SO much. They are small, round, and literally burst in your mouth.
Because they are fermented, you are not only getting the enhanced nutrients from the tomato, you are also getting the benefits of the natural, raw probiotics from the fermentation process.
You can find out more about what fermentation is exactly, and why you should eat raw fermented foods every day in this link. And if you are new to fermenting vegetables, I just love this book: Fermented Vegetables by Christopher Shockey.
Maybe you’re wondering what these can be used for? The possibilities are endless! Just snacking on them is a great way to eat them. In fact, I bet they won’t last long! You can add them to salads, marinades, or use them as a pretty side dish or garnish. I wouldn’t actually cook them, though, as that kills the live probiotics.
Now on to the recipe!
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The end of harvest season is here! Do you have too many cherry tomatoes left? Well, you can make these easy and healthy fermented cherry tomato bursts! These are so delicious, and they literally burst in your mouth! They make the perfect snack or garnish for kids and adults. You’ll love this easy recipe for fermented tomatoes! #healingharvesthomestead #cherrytomato #fermented #recipe #easy #healthy
How to Make Fermented Cherry Tomato Bursts
Fermenting vegetables is so easy. And fast. It’s seriously my favorite way to preserve foods! And the enhanced nutritional benefits added to the vegetables are astounding. These will take about a week to two weeks or so to ferment before you’ll place them in cold storage.
The longer you leave them out fermenting at room temperature, the mushier they might become, so I recommend refrigerating to slow down the fermentation process the minute you think they are perfect!
Ingredients You’ll Need to Ferment Your Cherry Tomatoes:
** Cherry tomatoes, enough to fill the jar to about two inches from the top.
** Onions, diced and enough to taste.
** Black peppercorns, crushed.
** A jalapeno pepper or two, diced
** Garlic if you wish.
** Starter Culture (optional) Some raw liquid from a previous ferment you have on hand. OR, you can use the juice from raw sauerkraut you purchase at the store. OR just use a half (quart Mason jar) to one full (half-gallon Mason jar) tablespoon extra salt. You can also use whey, which you can make yourself.
NOTE: The starter culture isn’t necessary, but it helps speed up the process and get your ferment going. I have found you can reduce the salt a bit if you use a starter culture. If you don’t have this just follow the directions, and you’ll be fine.
Do you have tons of cherry tomatoes in your garden you need to use up before winter? Try this fermented cherry tomato recipe! It’s SO good!
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Tools You’ll Need to Ferment Your Tomatoes:
** You’ll need a jar. I like to use a quart size Mason jar with a wide mouth. For this recipe, I used a half gallon jar, so I doubled the recipe.
** An airlock system of some type is ideal, but not vital. You can simply use a Mason jar lid. If you do it this way, you’ll need to “burp” your jar every day to release pent up gases. This is pretty important. With an airlock, you won’t have to burp it at all.
** A weight of some kind to hold down your vegetables. You can even use a boiled rock over a leaf of cabbage! You don’t need fancy equipment to ferment foods.
That’s all you need to ferment vegetables!
You need to pierce the skins two or three times in order for the fermenting liquid to get in there and do its thing! I used a toothpick for these little cherry tomato balls.
Instructions for Making Fermented Cherry Tomato Bursts:
Step 1) Wash your tomatoes, and pierce them a few times with a toothpick or sharp pointy object. You want a puncture in the skin so the fermented juices can enter the tomato but not disintegrate it.
Step 2) Place these, your onions, black peppercorns, and peppers in a clean wide mouth Mason jar. I like to layer them, because it looks really cool and also because the flavors will mix more easily.
I usually layer the veggies better, but here you go! It really doesn’t matter because once the fermentation starts, the flavors will mix together.
Step 3) Add your starter liquid if you are using. 1/4 to 1/2 cup for a quart; and double for a half-gallon jar.
Step 4) Add 1 tablespoon sea salt (a mineral rich, natural salt is needed) to your jar if it is a quart size. Add an additional 1/2 tablespoon if you don’t have any liquid from a previous ferment.
If you are using a half-gallon jar, just double the salt.
Adding the salt—-
Step 5) Fill to about an inch and a half from the top with filtered water.
Step 6) Place your weight on top. You need this to keep all the vegetable matter under the surface of the water. Mold may form if you don’t do this!
Step 7) Put on your airlock device and lid—-OR just use a regular Mason jar lid—-don’t forget to burp your ferment if doing it this way.
This is after fermenting about two weeks. I left them a bit long in our place. I could have put them in cold storage about a week earlier. But I do like a strong ferment!
Step 8) Allow to ferment for a week and up to two weeks. These little cherry tomatoes don’t take very long. Feel free to taste test using clean utensils after a few days. They are done when you love the flavor and they “burst” in your mouth!
Step 9) When finished, place a regular lid on the jar and refrigerate! That’s it!
Here they are! These are tart and tangy, with a zest that can’t be described! They will not last long, I promise!
Final Thoughts on These Delicious Cherry Tomato Bursts: The Perfect Snack or Garnish
These are seriously SO good! You can eat them right out of the jar! I love them on salads though. And adding them to salmon adds a really delightful punch of color and flavor! They have a tangy tartness that mixes with the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes perfectly!
I hope you’ll give these a try if you find you have a lot of extra cherry tomatoes you can’t eat all up right away! I really think it’s the perfect method of preserving them for later!
You may also enjoy these related articles:
30 Tomato Recipes to Make This Harvest Season!
How to Make the Perfect Spicy Carrot Sauerkraut
And there are seriously a LOT more articles on all kinds of fermentation on the website over at Healing Harvest Homestead! I hope you’ll search around! Or if you don’t have time, bookmark this site for later!
Hugs, Health, and Self-Reliance,
Heidi
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