Once again, I’m right up against the deadline for this month’s Can Jam. I didn’t intend for it to work out this way. In fact, I made a batch of Tomato Jam last week, based on my friend Amy’s recipe, thinking that it could be my contribution to the month’s challenge. It’s a delicious recipe and I may end up posting it at some point down the line.
However, I had this other idea tickled the back of my brain. Remember when I announced that it was my summer of butters? Well, it’s been awhile since I made one. And I had this idea that tomatoes might make a nice butter.
I started with a little over five pounds of Lancaster County tomatoes. Blanched, cored and peeled, I fed them into my Vitamix so that I had a chunky raw puree (if you don’t have a Vitamix, you could either pulse them in the food processor or take a potato masher to them).
Using my beloved slow cooker, I let the 10 cups of pulp cook down without any spices or sugar overnight and for an entire workday. It wound up being approximately 18 hours of cooking. Look closely at the next picture, you can see the rings from the cooking down process.
When I got home from work today, I had a bit less than four cups of cooked tomato, a far cry from the 10+ cups I started out with. Using an immersion blender, I whirred in some honey, brown sugar, lemon juice and zest and an array of my typical jam/fruit butter spices – cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. In the hopes of giving this butter a little zip, I also included 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne. Not so much to make it unpleasant, just to give it a little extra interest.
When all was done, I had a spread that was a bit sweet, but not cloying, with a nice spice profile. Consistency-wise, it’s quite similar to ketchup, but without the familiar vinegar-y zing. I’m looking forward to pairing this butter with a dab of goat cheese and seeing how it works on flatbread with caramelized onions. How would you use it?
Tomato Butter
Ingredients
- 5 pounds tomatoes peeled and pureed (approxiately 10 cups)
- 1 1/3 cups honey
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 lemon zested
- 4 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
Instructions
- Put the tomato puree in a slow cooker. Cook on low, with the lid propped on a chopstick or wooden spoon laid across the rim of the cooker, for 12-18 hours, until the tomato puree has reduced by more than half.
- When most the liquid has cooked off and the tomato puree is quite thick, add the honey, brown sugar, spices and lemon juice and zest. Using an immersion blender, puree the butter into a smooth spread (if you don’t have an immersion blender, carefully transfer the butter into a blender or bowl of a food processor and carefully puree).
- Fill jars, wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes (start time when water has returned to a boil). If you live above 1,000 feet in elevation, adjust your processing time accordingly.
- When time is up, remove jars from canner and let cool on a towel-lined counter. When jars are cool, remove rings and test seals. Store in a cool, dark place for up to one year.
Sounds amazing, A friend gave me some tomato butter a few years ago as a gift. I use it like I do apple butter. Kids had no idea they were eating tomatoes!
Thanks for recipe..
I have this on my todo list with the last of my homegrown tomatoes. I am wondering if this would work in the instant pot to pressure cook as a time saver? Then add spices and simmer for a bit before canning?
You need to evaporate out the water from the tomatoes. The Instant Pot does not allow things to evaporate.
Marisa…. I’m wondering what is the headspace for this recipe? I googled another tomato butter in hopes it was right! My jars did seal! I love the flavor! I never had anything like this… I ground my nutmeg and cloves to have stronger flavor… thanks!
Whenever a recipe does not list headspace, default to approximately 1/2 inch.
Marisa, could I take the lazy way out and buy cans of tomato puree to use in this recipe?
From a safety perspective, you could. I can’t guarantee the finished flavor, though.
Hi! What do you suggest if I don’t have a slow cooker?
Thank you!
Just added pureed tomatoes from our local CSA (Michigan State University Student Organic Farm) to the Crock-Pot, and pressed START! Thanks for what sounds like a delicious tomato butter!
Made this last weekend, and my coworkers love it! I just wish mine was thicker; I ended up cooking it in the slow-cooker for *26 hours* (yikes!) and it was still a bit runny. Did I do something wrong?
I don’t think you did anything wrong! There’s a lot of variety in the water content of tomatoes, and so it may be that your tomatoes were just really watery. You can always cook it longer to make it thicker.
Use in baked beans! My grandmother’s recipe, which I have misplaced and am looking for a duplicate, uses some vinegar, no honey, and lots of the spices you mentioned plus the sugar. It makes the best baked bean dish ever! Mix in the tomato butter before putting the beans in the oven.
I made this last summer. Gave out all but one jar. Well, I had a dinner dilemma I had some beef that needed to be cooked. Well, I browned it and then threw my tomato butter in with beef broth and wine and some veggies. Let’s just say, was on the hunt again for this recipe!! This time I will print it out. Thanks Melissa for all your expiraments!!
Do you think using unpeeled cherry tomatoes would work? That’s about all I’ve got ripening here in the Pacific Northwest.
The point of a butter is in part its smoothness, so you wouldn’t want to use unpeeled tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes would work, but not without peeled or running them through a food mill.
The slow cooker is brilliant! I used it to cook down tomatoes into a beautiful tomato sauce. Ingredients: tomatoes. That’s it. Amazing! So here is my question – if I wanted to can just this sauce made of tomatoes, with no other ingredients (no sugar, nutmeg, cloves, etc), what do I need to do to ensure it is canned safely? Can I just add the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, or is there something else needed?
You could certainly skip all the spices and sugar and just add a tablespoon of lemon juice to each pint to ensure safety.
Great – thanks!