Lacto-Fermented Cherry Tomatoes

I had an over abundance of cherry tomatoes this year. As I wrote in my last blog, I was determined to can tomatoes in new ways. So I researched and researched ways to can cherry maters. I tried just canning them, which I wrote about in my previous post. When I saw about fermenting them I was very intrigued. Simple process and soooo good for you. Here’s what I did:

I used 2 wide mouth half pint jars. 

Two glass fermenting weights

4 cloves of garlic

6 basil leaves

2 oregano leaves

1/2 tsp celery seed

1/2 tsp whole peppercorns

1 tsp pickling spice

Coarse sea salt

Water

First put 2 cups water in a bowl and add 20 grams of the coarse sea salt. Stir to dissolve salt. Then fill your jars with cherry tomatoes leaving half inch head space. Add half of each the rest of the ingredients to each jar. Then pour the salt water brine into each jar, enough to cover the tomatoes. Then place a weight on top of each jar. Place in a dark area and cover with a tea towel and let sit for 3-5 days. Checking daily to make sure brine is covering the tomatoes. Then cover with lid and place in fridge for at least a week. I let mine go for 2 weeks in the fridge before tasting. Let me tell you, these are delicious!!! And they look gorgeous! In hindsight I could have put more cherry tomatoes in each jar. Other than that I wouldn’t change anything. These are so yummy! 

Have you ever fermented tomatoes? I’d love to hear about it! Please share in the comment section! 

Canning Tomatoes

Typically I’m that girl that cans tomato juice. Last year I canned some sauce. This year I was determined to can tomatoes in new ways. I canned a good amount of sauce and some cherry tomatoes. I just love canning!! ​

The cherry tomatoes canned well, they all split open but still look beautiful. I am not impressed with them overall, I had hoped it would be like having a cherry tomato off the plant but it’s nothing like that. They are soft and squishy and the skin got kind of tough. Won’t be doing that again. Honestly the cherry tomatoes are way better to throw in when I’m processing the others. I also fermented cherry tomatoes which are delicious. I’ll write about those in my next blog.