GREEN TOMATOES JAM

When I was young and still living in Italy, I discovered
this original jam at my friend Marisa's house.
Her mother Clelia would make it at the end of summer
so she could use all the tomatoes that were left unripe in
the vegetable garden....clever!!!

Passing by a neighbour garden recently, I saw green tomatoes
hanging, forgotten on few plants.
My memory went quickly back to the past, so I knocked at my
neighbour's door catching the opportunity to be able to make
the precious jam.
"Precious" because if you don't have a vegetable garden it's
impossible to find green tomatoes at the shop.

So here I am with the recipe and some pictures from my recent
jam making!

GREEN TOMATOES JAM

Ingredients:

2 kg of green or half-ripe tomatoes
1 kg of sugar (I use the brown one)
2 organic lemons

Wash tomatoes, clean them from all imperfections (rotten side, insects bites)
and slice them in small pieces.

Wash lemons, grate peels, then squeeze juice.

Mix tomatoes with sugar and lemon juice and let them rest, covered, in the fridge
for one night.

The next day, transfer tomatoes in a big pot and cook them slowly for about one hour.
In the middle of cooking add the lemon zest and stir.
After one hour, spoon out a bit of jam on a plate to check if it is dense,
then you know that jam is ready!

Sterilize glass jars in the dishwasher.
Pour jam in jars when still warm, cover with lids and put them
upside down in a big pot.
Divide jars with a cloth and cover them with cold water.
Boil for 35 minutes in order to sterilize jam so to be preserved.

Keep jars in the pot till water is cold.
At this point the jars with Green tomatoes jam are ready to go on your pantry shelf!

I love this jam on a slice of fresh baguette or to accompany a slice of cheese.