August 30, 2023

Free tomato powder

At this time of year I am processing lots of tomatoes grown in the garden.  I roast them and take the skins off before making them into passata or bolognaise sauce.  I hate waste and used to throw the skins away, but now I dehydrate them and turn them into free tomato powder.  This is great for adding taste to stews, soups, or for making cuppa soups for a day out in the winter (taking a flask of water and adding pasta and dried veg to the mixture).

I personally dry mine in my conservatory under muslin and on a silicone baking sheet, but you could use a dehydrator, an oven, or even the back shelf of a car to dehydrate (as I used to do).  Sometimes I will put them out in the sun on a hot,  windless day.  The skins want to snap and  be brittle and not bendy at all or else they will go mouldy.  I save them in jars and then grind a lot together.

I grind mine up in a coffee bean  grinder and then brush the powder out with a silicone baking brush.  I found that my food processor did not grind them well, but it is old and not a good one.  I then store them in a dry, recycled glass jar in the cupboard.  This is my third jar this season that I have made.

Don’t you just love free things made from waste?  Saving on waste, and finding ways to use what I have already,  has probably been the biggest help to me in saving money on food.

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2 Comments

  1. Kathryn Naden August 30, 2023 at 11:19 am - Reply

    Sounds a great idea I think I might try using my Airfryer too . X

    • ToniG August 30, 2023 at 6:57 pm - Reply

      I roast my tomatoes in my air fryer but haven’t tried dehydrating in it yet, even though it has a setting. The 9 hours it required for dehydrating courgettes put me off. Thanks for commenting x

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