Revive winter tomatoes: Elevate your meals with marinades

They cost a lot, and once cut, they can be a bitter disappointment. Out-of-season tomatoes are watery, have little flavour, and their texture resembles cardboard more than healthy and delicious vegetables. It's easy to say just don't buy them, but following that line of thought, one might give up on many vegetables. Instead of lamenting over a bland sandwich with cheese and tomato, silently cursing for overspending, prepare a rescue marinade.

Marinating or brining are simple ways to add more flavour to tomatoes. These methods allow you to add your favourite spices, highlighting the natural flavour of tomatoes and bringing out the best in them.

Ingredients:

• 450 grams of cherry tomatoes,
• 1 onion,
• 100 millilitres of oil,
• 1 tablespoon of honey,
• 1 teaspoon of salt,
• half a teaspoon of pepper,
• half a teaspoon of dried basil,
• 1 teaspoon of tomato paste.

Preparation Method:

1. Pierce each tomato with a toothpick to better absorb the marinade flavours.
2. Finely chop a small onion and place it along with the tomatoes in a jar.
3. In a bowl, combine oil, honey, salt, pepper, basil, and tomato paste. Mix thoroughly.
4. Pour the prepared marinade over the tomatoes. Seal the jar and gently shake it to ensure the marinade coats the veggies well.

Store the jar in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. The longer you marinate the tomatoes, the more intense their flavour will be. They make a great addition to salads, sandwiches, main dishes, or as a standalone snack.

Besides the marinade, a simple brine will also make tomatoes taste better on sandwiches or in salads.

Ingredients:

• 450 grams of cherry tomatoes,
• 1 medium onion,
• 2-3 stalks of celery,
• 500 millilitres of water,
• 1 tablespoon of salt,
• a few peppercorns, 1 bay leaf.

Preparation Method:

1. Boil the water with salt, then cool it down.
2. Chop the onion into slices, and dice the celery stalks.
3. Pierce each cherry tomato with a toothpick to better absorb the flavours.
4. Place tomatoes, onion, celery, peppercorns, and bay leaf at the bottom of a sterilized jar.
5. Pour the prepared, cooled brine over everything.

Seal the jar and set it aside for at least half an hour. The longer the tomatoes marinate, the more intense their flavour will be. They taste best after a few hours in the fridge.

If you want to give your tomatoes a new life, be sure to try our brine and marinade recipes. Thanks to them, even winter tomatoes will become a true treat for the palate.