This process for these pickled tomatoes, which I call Red Weapons, is so easy it barely warrants directions: You make a flavorful liquid full of aromatics and pour it over tomatoes to pickle them. The most important step, however, is the one where you wait. The tomatoes must sit in their brine for a minimum of 3 days before they mature into the weapons I promise. After that they’ll keep in your fridge for 3 months.
Don’t get caught up in the details here. I call for plum tomatoes because I like their firmness and availability, but any tomato will do. In fact, if you find yourself in a fortunate place where you have a bounty of cherry or slicing tomatoes, this is a quick and painless way to preserve them.
I’ve provided a guide to make a relatively small batch because of that little detail we call refrigerator space, but this is incredibly easy to double, even triple. Don’t freak out about the measurements on aromatics and spices. If you’re short a little ginger, turmeric, or a jalapeño or two, don’t put aside the recipe.
Red Weapons will keep in your fridge for 3 months, but they don’t like the freezer and emerge from its depths mushy and weird. If you make too much and your fridge offers too little, consider canning them in a hot water bath just after you pour the hot brine over top.
Once the pickled tomatoes have spent a few days in the fridge you’ll notice Twin B, the olive oil component, rises to the top and creates a “lid” over Twin A, the pickling liquid, and the tomatoes and other solid stuff. This act of science makes the weapons and their offspring easy to separate from one another, but it’s definitely not a pretty process. You will likely find yourself with a hand in a jar or a puddle on the counter, but who really cares? Just know all of the extraction and separation will be easier if your Red Weapon family is cold.
Recipe notes
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