Fire Roasted Tomatoes

As promised, I’ll share my method (not recipe, because a lot of the time, I’m winging it and not following a recipe) for one of my freezer fillers.  At least once a week for the past several weeks, I’ve been buying a bucket of “seconds” tomatoes–for a dollar a bucket.  Since we use a lot of canned fire roasted tomatoes in various recipes all year, I thought I’d just make my own and freeze them to use this winter.

In their raw form, tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C, but since it is heat sensitive, cooked tomatoes don’t contain much vitamin C to speak of.  The cooked form, especially when there is a little oil present (olive oil is a favorite choice around here), the antioxidant Lycopene is readily available–it is protective of men’s prostate health, which is something we can all appreciate:  the men for obvious reasons, and the women who love them…Here is what I do:

1 bucket of seconds tomatoes, cored and cut in half along the stem side (not equator)

splash of olive oil (maybe 1/4 or 1/2 cup)

Stir/toss the tomato halves gently with a spatula or spoon so that they are all evenly coated with the olive oil.  Fire up the grill (I use gas, and set the burners to medium high) and let it heat up.  Using tongs, I place each tomato half, cut side down on the grill, and close the lid.  After a few minutes, or when I start to see smoke, I turn the halves over so that the skin is on the grill.  You may have to arrange and rearrange the tomatoes based on how fast they are cooking due to size or hot spots on the grill.  Let them grill for a few more minutes.  Start turning them over to see how charred the skins are.  I let a few of them get quite charred, while others not as much.  They are done when quite mushy and you are slightly afraid they might slip through the grill bars.  Some can be more mushy than others.  Put them in the bowl you tossed them around in originally and let cool a bit.  Then you puree them in the food processor of your choice and store in a quart sized freezer safe container.  I usually add a little smoked salt when I puree them, but you don’t have to salt at all–taste and decide for yourself!

Enjoy!