Smoke roasted tomatoes

Peak harvest of tomatoes now, what to do ?

Nice weather so instead of using the oven indoors, fire up the smoker to roast tomatoes.

Prep the grille, a charcoal starter with fresh hardwood and a mix of leftovers from the last fire.

Mesquite pellets, a cup or two , fill the cup with water, the pellets will swell absorbing the water for maximum smoke output.

Not more than a few days from harvest, some within hours. I’ll reserve the cherry tomatoes for another use. Quartered the larger tomatoes.

Adding some garlic to the mix

Salt, fresh ground pepper blend and a few red pepper flakes.

Toss with a bit of olive oil.

Prep the perferated pan with oil to prevent sticking.

When the hardwood is ready, pour out to the charcoal pan, here at the lowest level. Add the soaked pellets, cover and let it come up to temperature. Sit the perferated pan atop and cover.

Smoking up, the hose is used to soak the ground below the grille. Avoiding flare-ups from unwanted embers from igniting anything. The bottom of the charcoal pan is screened for maximum air flow. A metal pan pan at ground level holds a small amount of water, a repurposed base from a water heater.

Oh ! I happen to have some dough around. Ready the flat bread ! A plastic mat with semolina give the dough ball bearing moveability with out sticking , like a pizza peel.

Tomatoes are done in about an half hour. The handle on the pan folds so it can fit in the grille when covered.

I did turn the tomatoes gently about 15 minutes to expose more of them to the smoke. Some took on a nice char. Set the tomatoes over a pan or plate after grilling to let the juices drain. I hand peeled the skins, just pull them off, if you like. Combine peeled tomatoes with juices. (After you sip a sample).

Added a few pieces of hardwood. Slap on the dough.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I’m going to pulse up the tomatoes, I did eat several pieces before processing ! Looking good ! Added a pinch or two of sugar to balance , that’s all folks!

Pulsed up on the chunky side.

Since I have the grille up to temp a final addition of hardwood, might as well use it to bake a loaf of bread from the batch of dough.

Whattah think next ? ……..

……….. Of course !

The flat bread, smeared with the smokeyness of the tomato, fresh picked Russian red kale

Microplane some parm, a decorative side of sweet cherry tomatoes and kale leaf. Olive oil drizzle of course !

Crispy flat bread uuuummmm!

About 25 minutes later……..

Done! One container of tomato sauce in the freezer, the other in the fridge. Tomatoes plants still flowering.