If you have kids that eat the cherry tomatoes off the vine before you can even get them picked, maybe you don’t have an abundance to ferment. But if you do, making fermented cherry tomato bombs are another way everyone will enjoy them. Read on for three of Ashley’s amazing recipes.
Eaten right off the vine, cherry tomatoes are one of the best parts about summer gardening. Cherry tomatoes are surprisingly easy to grow, and even most brown thumb gardeners can pull in an impressive harvest. Apartment or back porch growers pull in quart after quart of tomatoes off just one or two plants. And, no matter how much you like tasting them right off the vine, they’re so prolific that eventually you’ll need a way to preserve and enjoy them later on.
While you’d think cherry tomatoes would not fare well in the fermentation process, they hold up really well, swelling into effervescent “bombs” of flavor that you can pop whole into your mouth for an explosion of flavor. Try these fermented cherry tomato bomb recipes to infuse extra flavor and variety into your tomato ferments.
How to Make Fermented Cherry Tomato Bombs
Start with a basic recipe for fermented cherry tomato bombs, and then add a few pinches of regional herbs and spices into the fermentation brine.
3 Fermented Cherry Tomato Bomb Recipes
Mediterranean Cherry Tomato Bombs
Modern Italian and Greek cultures often incorporate tomatoes into their fresh cuisine, and adding some oregano, basil, and parsley into your cherry tomato ferment will help your fermented tomatoes complement the other flavors in the dish. Try adding Italian seasoned cherry tomatoes to top a greek salad. Create a healthy and fresh raw vegan zucchini spaghetti with spiraled zucchini and Mediterranean fermented tomato bombs, along with your choice of pine nuts, olive oil, sweet peppers, or cucumbers. Toss some basil-seasoned cherry tomato bombs into a cold pesto pasta salad dish to add some extra zip and pump it up with probiotics. Or, substitute them anywhere a dish calls for raw tomatoes, such as in a Greek gyro.
Indian Cherry Tomato Bombs
Dishes from the Indian subcontinent often include rich tomato gravies full of turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom. Create Indian-flavored tomato bombs by adding a piece of fresh raw ginger and turmeric, along with a cinnamon stick and a few cardamom pods. Toss the Indian tomatoes into a lentil and rice salad, or incorporate them into a rice-based biryani. Alternately, use them in western recipes to give it an Indian twist. Try a spinach salad topped with red peppers, onions, and Indian-spiced cherry tomato bombs.
Middle Eastern Platter Tomato Bombs
Fermented middle eastern seasoned cherry tomatoes make a great addition to a Middle Eastern mezze platter for a cool summer lunch. Try seasoning your cherry tomatoes with a mix of lemon zest, cumin, coriander, allspice, and nutmeg. Use each seasoning sparingly, as they’re all strong flavors. Just a pinch of each. Enjoy the tomatoes along with pita bread, hummus, home fermented stuffed grape leaves, homemade lebna, cured olives and a bit of yogurt and cucumber dip.
Have your own ideas for the best way to spice up the seasoning in home fermented cherry tomato bombs? Leave it in the comments below.
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Ashley is an off grid homesteader in central Vermont. She is passionate about fermentation, charcuterie and foraging. Read more about her adventures at PracticalSelfReliance.com.