Green Tomato Pickles

I know it's not the season for green tomatoes anymore, at least not in Europe. I was lucky to find them in January on the farmers market here in Athens. Of course I couldn't resist, but I so regret I got only 2 kgs.. Pfff

Every year, by the end of summer grandma Franny used to make all sort of pickles to stock up for the winter, cold days (yes, all my childhood memories are related with grandma and food). Long time back everybody used to make pickles to be able enjoy summer vegies in December. Now days you can find all kinds of fresh vegetables in the supermarket, but I still make my pickles...

I made two types of "pickled tomato salad", classic version with onion, and multicolor with courgette and florina pepper. Both in sweet & sour marinade. Today I share the classic version.

 

Green Tomato Pickles with Onion

(makes 5x 330 ml jars)

 

1 kg green tomatoes, washed well and thinly sliced

3 large onions, thinly sliced

1 tbsp salt

2 cups water

1/2 cup white vinegar 10% *

3/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp rapeseed oil

5 x 330 ml glass twist jars, sterilized

 

Method :

1. In a large bowl mix together sliced tomatoes, onions and the salt. Cover with kitchen towel and set aside for few hours.

2. Drain the juice from the tomatoes and onion mix though a colander. Set the veggies aside and discard the juice.

3. Make the marinade. Combine the water, vinegar, sugar and oil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to boil.

4. Fill each of the hot sterilized jars with the veggie mixture, to about 1 cm of the top. Pour hot marinade over to cover the veggies. With a clean damp towel, wipe the rim of each jar and close with the lid.

5. Pasteurize the jars in a hot water bath for about 15 min.

6. Label the jars and store them in a cold, dark place, such as the pantry. Let the pickles age for at least 2 weeks.

 

 

 

 

Notes*

 

- you can find 10% white vinegar in Easter European deli shops. I buy all my ingredients in a cute mini market in Glyfada,. You can find the address here.

-  you can chopped dill and thickly grated carrot to the pickles if you like. do that in the step 1.