Skinning tomatoes »How to proceed step by step

Skin the tomatoes - step by step

Skin peeling is not required when eating fresh tomatoes unless the skin is causing digestive problems. Tomatoes are often used as an addition to various roasts or as a base for sauces. The tomato disintegrates during cooking, but its skin does not overcook. So there are always small or larger pieces of skin visible in the dish. If you want to create a visually excellent menu, you can peel the tomatoes before using them.

1. Wash the tomatoes under running water. The tomato should be ripe and firm. Muddy or already wrinkled specimens are difficult to skin.
2. Remove the stem of the tomato, if any, as well as the stem end (use a sharp knife).
3. Score the tomato with a sharp knife in a cross shape opposite the base of the stem.
4. Fill a saucepan with water and heat it up.
5. As soon as the water is boiling, put the tomatoes in it. It is best to use a slotted trowel for this.
6. Let the tomatoes simmer in the water for about half a minute.
7. Take the tomato out with the slotted spoon and immediately place it in a bowl of cold water. In this way, the cooking process that has started is abruptly interrupted. The tomato will stay firm, but its skin will tear and can be peeled off in strips.
8. Now use a sharp knife to peel off the skin of the tomato in strips.

Besides making the skin easy to peel off, blanching tomatoes has another beneficial side effect.
The brief heating and subsequent quenching slows down the ripening process in the tomato, it can be kept longer in the refrigerator. It also refreshes the color of the tomato and when you peel off the skin, you also remove the nitrates and residues of pesticides it contains.
Skinned tomatoes not only look better, they're healthier too.

Peel tomatoes in the microwave

While this method saves time, it should be used with caution. You must not take your eyes off the device and actually only heat the tomatoes for a few seconds. If heated too long, the tomatoes will burst and the interior of the microwave will resemble a battlefield.

1. Wash your tomatoes and remove the stem and its roots.
2. Score the tomato on the opposite side of the stem crosswise with a knife.
3. Put the tomato on a plate in the microwave.
4. Set the heating level to 650 watts. A higher wattage will cause the tomato to burst.
5. Heat the tomato for 20 seconds. If the tomato stays in the oven for longer, it will first get mushy, then it will burst.
6. Take the tomato out of the micro and peel off the skin in strips with the knife.

Use skinned tomatoes

The classic dish with skinned tomatoes is tomato sauce or tomato soup. To do this, the tomatoes are chopped up with a mixer and mashed after they have been peeled.

For the sauce, sweat chopped onions and garlic and deglaze with the tomato puree. If the sauce is still too thick, it can be refined with a dash of red wine or cream. If you don't want alcohol or cream, add some vegetable stock.
Taste the sauce and pour it over freshly cooked spaghetti. Sprinkle a little more grated Parmesan and the Italian pasta is ready.

Proceed similarly for tomato soup. Here, too, sweat onions and garlic, pour on the mashed tomatoes and add broth to the creamy soup. Refine the soup with a dash of cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper and then sprinkle some chopped parsley over the top. Cooked rice tastes good as a soup.

If you want to add the skinned tomatoes to a mixed salad, it is advisable to core the tomatoes after skinning. To do this, cut the tomato in half with a sharp knife and remove the seeds with a teaspoon.