Along with our potatoes, Thomas and I grow tomatoes on our balcony every year. And every year, the first winter frost comes before all the tomatoes have had time to ripen.
Luckily, green tomatoes are not only perfectly edible, but can be turned into delicious meals and side dishes in their own right.
One great option for smaller quantities of tomatoes is to pickle them. There are bazillions of recipes for green tomato pickles; this one is great as a side dish for pork and many other meat dishes:
Green Tomato Pickles Recipe
1 kg (2.2 pounds) green tomatoes
3 dl (1.25 cups) white vinegar
3 dl (1.25 cups) water
1/2 kg (1.1 pounds) sugar
1 piece of cinnamon bark
8-10 cloves
Rinse and dry the tomatoes. Use a blunt darning needle to poke small holes in them, so they will absorb the liquid.
Heat the water and vinegar in a kettle till it boils. Add sugar, cloves and tomatoes. Let this simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the size of your tomatoes.
Remove the kettle from the heat and keep it somewhere cold overnight to let the tomatoes absorb more flavor.
Next day, bring the kettle to a boil again and let simmer for 5 minutes. Lift the tomatoes out with a slotted spoon and distribute them in sterilized jars. Let the vinegar-mix boil for 5 more minutes. Skim off any residue on the surface.
Pour the liquid into the jars, enough to cover the tomatoes and then some. Put on the jar lids and seal them.
Store them in a cool dark place – for example your fridge – they should keep there for several weeks as long as your lid and seal is airtight. If you pickle them in properly sterilized cans or jars, they should keep for months. But that’s the topic of a future post 
Happy pickling!
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This post was tagged with: food, Gardening, preservation, recipes, tomatoes
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I discovered sliced green tomatoes with a squeeze of lemon in Cuba and have included them in my menu ever since. Worth a try!
Gina
@Gina: Thanks for the tip – we’ll try it the next time we get our hands on some green tomatoes
@Gina: Your site looks very interesting, by the way! I’m going to have a thorough read there later – right now I have a programming deadline hanging over my head :-/
Thanks for the compliment, Thomas. The website is way behind the actual remodel — in fact I moved into the house last month and now I’m into finishing details. It’s hard to find time these days!
Gina
Gina, thanks for commenting
Will try green tomatoes with a squeeze of lemon. I like your site! Your house looks cozy 
Wonderful recipe.
Every year, we buy a case of green tomatoes just before the market shuts down and we have ripe market fresh tomatoes for weeks.
Also : if you just put your green tomatoes between a few layers of old newspapers, they will rippen in the dark!
@Yanic: Great tip, thanks!
Ypu can try to pick your green tomatoes, wrap them in clingfilm and leave them inside on the window sill for a few days. This will ripen them more.