Keri’s Killer Tomato Jam
In season, I always get more tomatoes than we can consume, so I am always looking for new and creative ways to use them. A couple of years ago, during the pandemic when I was spending pretty all my time in my kitchen, I went way outside my tomato comfort zone and experimented with making tomato jam.
The first recipe I used was good, but lacked some depth, so I started tweaking the ingredients to find ways to kick it up a notch. I began by adding ginger because I love ginger. That was a distinct improvement, but still, it needed that something extra special. I added star anise and--wow! This jam is good enough to eat straight out of the jar...not that I would know anything about that. Before I knew it, I was putting it on everything and eating peanut butter and jam sandwiches for the first time in probably 40 years.
Roasting the tomatoes in this recipe brings out the deep, sweet favors of the tomatoes, and the spices make this jam almost take on stone fruit and berry flavors. This jam is a real treat on English muffins with a smear of cream cheese for breakfast, or on crackers with goat cheese as an appetizer. Also would pair well with blue cheese, pork or game meat. And don't get me started about how good it is on a big old burger--woof! woof!
I also love this recipe as another way to preserve tomatoes for use during those long winter months when lack of fresh tomatoes is, as the late, great John Denver would say, a "culinary bummer." I make several batches of this jam in the early fall when tomatoes are at their peak and freeze it for use later.
For this recipe, use ripe, still firm tomatoes. Tomatoes can go "sour" when they get a little past peak and just beginning to ferment. If you have a good sense of smell, you can smell when a tomato has started to go just past peak. Unfortunately--probably because the roasting concentrates the flavors of the tomatoes--if you use tomatoes that are a little past peak for this jam, you'll taste it in the final product--no fair asking me how I know ;-)
- 1 2/3 cup sugar
- 3 lb ripe tomatoes (cored, quartered and thinly sliced (1/4"))
- a generous pinch of salt
- grated zest of one lemon
- juice of one large lemon
- 1 cinnamon stick (broken into a few pieces (large enough to find))
- 2 star anice pods (broken into pieces (large enough to find))
- 3/4 tsp fennel seed (lightly crushed)
- 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp ginger (finely diced)
- 1 Pour about 1/3 of the sugar onto the bottom of a medium roasting pan (mine is about 11 x 14").
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Place 1/2 the sliced tomatoes, overlapping, over the layer of sugar.
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Sprinkle the lemon zest, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, ginger and salt over the tomato slices. Place the cinnamon stick pieces and the star anise pieces randomly on top of tomatoes. Top with juice of the lemon, and pour another 1/3 of the sugar over top.
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Top with the rest of the tomatoes (make sure the layer of tomatoes fully covers the first layer) and top with the remainder of the sugar. Put aside and let macerate for about 1/2 an hour. While the mixture is macerating, heat the oven to 400*. When the tomatoes have macerated for 30 minutes, place them in the pre-heated oven. Let them roast for about an hour. When you check them after an hour, they should be breaking down and pretty liquid. Stir and let them roast for another 10-15 minutes before checking them and stirring them again. Continue to check every 10-15 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken. To check for doneness, pour a small amount of the liquid onto a plate, let cool and then run a finger through it. When the line doesn't fill back in, the jam is done. Take it out of the oven, let it cool and then put into glass jars.
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The jam will keep frozen for several months, or in the refrigerator for about 10 days-two weeks...but if you're like us, it won't last for 10 minutes!
Thank you for visiting my site! I hope you love the recipe!
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