I was very intrigued by the idea of tomato jam. Since they do not seem to sell it anywhere I had to make it. My first attempt was using the Foods In Jars recipe, which is similar to many others I've seen. It is a sweet jam, (too sweet in my opinion) using over 3 cups of sugar. The popular version also uses cinnamon, clove, and ginger. Some use other spices such as cumin.
Determined to get it right, I searched and searched and compared many tomato jam recipes. I really wanted to try one by the Love and Olive Oil blog since it contained two summer favorites tomatoes and peaches. You know the saying... what grows together goes together. So this was a good opportunity to test that one. It also added jalapeno peppers for heat.
While some people seem to be against adding pectin, I really wanted to reduce the amount of sugar and cooking time. Not only did I not want to slave over a hot stove, stirring for hours, but I wanted to keep the fruit fresh with bite. I adapted the recipe for my own tastes. I cut down the sugar a whole cup and found the jam plenty sweet. I also added some more acid to replace the sugar for preservation.
The jam is sweet but also savory. The heat from the jalapeno is really nice. Even if you do not spicy foods I suggest you put one in (removing the seeds and ribs). In case you don't know what to do with tomato jam, here are some ideas: part of a cheese tray, glaze for meat or fish, topping for burgers or meatloaf, slathered on top of hot cornbread or sandwich spread.
Ingredients: Makes 5 half pints, 2 tablespoons per serving or 8 servings per jar
3 pounds Roma tomatoes
2 peaches
2 jalapeno peppers, minced
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 tablespoons of low sugar pectin
1 tsp. salt
Method:
- Wash and sterilize five half pint mason jars.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil, cut and X in the bottom of the tomatoes and peaches. Cook for about 30 seconds and than remove into a big bowl with ice and water to stop cooking. Peal tomatoes and fruit and coarsely chop.
- In a small bowl whisk together 1/4 cup of sugar and pectin.
- In a large pan combine the tomatoes, lime juice, salt, peaches, and jalapeno peppers, bring to a boil and cook until reduced about 1/3 about 30 minutes.
- Stir in pectin mixture and bring to a rolling boil. Immediately add the remaining sugar and boil for one minute string constantly.
- Ladle jam into jars leaving 1/4 inch of head space and process for ten minutes.
Cost: $5.50 total, $1.10 per jar (not including cost of jar)**
Time: 1 hour total
Nutrition Facts: Amount Per Serving
Calories 16.7
Total Fat 0.1 g
Sodium 59.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 4.2 g
Dietary Fiber 0.3 g
Sugars 2.6 g
Protein 0.2 g
Weight Watcher Points +: 0 points per serving
*Recipe adapted from the Love and Olive Oil blog.
** The Farmer's Market I go to sells bags of produce, which contain the slightly blemished or smaller undesirable produce. This produce might not be very good for a salad but is great for jam. I got a large bag of tomatoes for $4.00.