How to Peel Roma Tomatoes

I was writing about Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil and I had to stop it right when I was about to write how to peel tomatoes for the third time.  In my mind, that post would not be the last post where I had to peel tomatoes as part of the cooking process.  I didn’t want to write about peeling tomatoes a hundred times, so I decided to write on how to peel tomatoes and would just refer to this post rather than going over and over again.  Ha… talking about laziness!  Well… if only the recipe didn’t ask for peeled tomatoes…

Anyway, first things first.  Usually when a recipe calls for peeled tomatoes, it asks for Roma or Plum tomatoes.  Roma tomatoes have thicker skin than other tomatoes.  From my experience, it is easier to peel tomatoes with the method below if the tomatoes are at room temperature.  Tomatoes that come straight out of the refrigerator will not work as well.  It also helps if you have firm tomatoes.  If your tomatoes are soft, they tend to get mushy after the peeling method below.  So, firm tomatoes at room temperature are the key.

Shall we begin?

First I start by boiling a pot of water. Then, I set a mixing bowl with water and ice cubes. I want to make the water as cold as possible.

 

Then I make a shallow crisscross cut on the tomatoes with a sharp knife.  I usually make two crisscross cuts if I am not lazy.  One near the stem of the tomato and the other one at the bottom of the tomato.  Or, even a quick slash on the tomato will work.

 

Then, once the water boils, I drop three to four tomatoes into the boiling water and within five to ten seconds, the skin on the tomatoes will split open.  The cut on the tomatoes allows the skin to curl and this makes it easier to peel them.

 

Once they split open, I scoop them out with a spoon and put the tomatoes into the ice water.  By putting the tomatoes into the cold bath, it stops the cooking process from the boiling water.

 

After that, it is just easy to peel the skin.

 

Within minutes you get a bowl of peeled tomatoes!  That’s it!  Now hopefully I don’t have to write about peeling tomatoes again! 🙂