Green Tomatoes: Summer’s Over

When only green tomatoes remain on the plants, you know summer is over. But summer lingered on this year: we gathered our green tomatoes at the end of November – and picked quite a few ripe ones still on the plants along with them.

Picking the last tomatoes on our plants, green ones, most of them

They’ve been turned into a green tomato relish.

Best way to give you the recipe? Show you in images!

Here’s how to make

An Umbrian Green Tomato Condiment:

Pick all the green tomatoes remaining on the plants. Pick any ripe ones – or semi-ripe ones – along with them.

Wash well.

After picking, wash tomatoes well

Cut into small pieces.

Cut the tomatoes into small pieces

Cover with salt. Leave overnight. Rinse well the next morning.

Cover with salt overnight

Wash well a generous bunch of parsley and chop finely, starting from stems. Do not discard stems as full of flavor.

Wash generous bunch of parsley and chop, using stems, too

I use a treasured mezzaluna I (“half-moon”, i.e., cradle knife for the task – given to my husband Pino by an elderly woman over forty years ago) to finely-chop. You may wish to use a more sophisticated apparatus!

I use a mezzaluna to finely-cut the parsley

Peel a couple cloves of garlic and dice finely. Salute’ til golden in olive oil. Add green tomatoes and simmer, then add a generous handful of finely-chopped parsley. Simmer until tomatoes are tender. (If you wish, add a cup or so of diced ripe tomatoes, too..as green ones become tender).

Saute’ diced garlic until golden

Add diced green tomatoes

As green tomatoes become tender, add pieces of ripe tomatoes if desired

In separate stainless steel frying pan, salute’ 2 -3 finely-chopped garlic cloves until golden. Add 3-4 bell peppers, diced. Simmer.

Saute’ peppers with garlic cloves

With slotted spoon, remove peppers from oil and slide in 4 finely-chopped celery stalks.

Celery from our garden, diced and ready for the peppers

Simmer celery a few minutes and then raise heat, adding about a cup of wine vinegar.
Return peppers to mixture and cook gently on low heat, about ten – fifteen minutes or until ingredients, soften and blend together.

Peppers simmer with diced celery

The peppers mixture simmers on our wood stove

Add peppers mixture to tomatoes and parsley. Simmer. Add vinegar as needed. Salt to taste.
Enjoy your sauce with boiled meats, on bruschetta, on sharp cheeses. And what a tasty topping for a Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey.
Buon appetito!