What to do with green tomatoes?

How to ripen them?

It is only about green tomatoes that are green because they have not had time to ripen and not about certain varieties, such as Green Zebra, which are green at ripeness.

Start by carrying out a thorough sorting and only keep the healthy fruits, free from blight.

You can induce their ripening either by leaving the tomatoes to ripen in the open air inside the house, in a conservatory, or behind a window, or by applying one of these two methods:

Wrap them in newspaper

• Wrap each tomato in a sheet of newspaper
• Place the tomatoes with the peduncle facing down, in a crate lined with newspaper in a cool, dry, and dark place
• Wait 2 to 3 weeks while regularly checking for any signs of rot
• To hasten ripening: place an apple with your tomatoes, the ethene it emits will accelerate their ripening. You can also enclose them in a paper bag with a banana, which will similarly speed up the ripening process.

Turn them upside down

Simple but not always effective, this method requires being able to store the plants in a dry place, sheltered from daylight.

• Pull up the healthy plants
• Hang them upside down

Cooking them: green tomato fritters and other recipes

Having worked in the vegetable garden all summer, you may want to enjoy this last harvest by using your tomatoes as they are.

There are many ways to cook green tomatoes. For, they must be cooked, more specifically, they must be heated: unripe tomatoes contain solanine, a toxic substance that breaks down when cooked.

To enjoy these fruits all winter, transform them into delicious chutney to accompany meats or cheeses, as a condiment, or into tangy jam, make tarts, cakes, or even scrumptious green tomato fritters!

→ Discover Ingrid’s recipe for green tomato jam on our blog!

Green tomato pesto