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Sicilian Style Tomato Jam

This is a wonderful recipe inspired by something I read about an epicurean’s travels through Italy in the 1950s.

Sicilian Style Tomato Jam 

Print This Recipe Total time Yield 2Source Adapted from Mark BittmanPublished

I am serving this on baguette with goat cheese, but it makes a wonderful condiment as well. Try it with tuna.

Ingredients

  • 3 pound ripe, super sweet cherry tomatoes
  • 1½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoon ginger, peeled and grated
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
  • goat cheese and baguette slices for serving

Directions

1. If you are a maniac you may peel the tomatoes by blanching them a moment, then plunging them in an ice-bath. The peels will slip off easily. But this step is not mandatory, though it will improve the texture.
2. Combine all ingredients in a heavy bottomed, large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring the pot often.
3. Once it boils, reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally. You may break up some of the tomatoes as you work with the back of your spoon. Eventually the mixture will attain the consistency of thick jam. This takes about 1 ½ hours. Taste and adjust seasoning, you may need more lemon juice and salt to balance all that sugar. Cool the jam and refrigerate it until ready to use; this will keep at least a week.

Alternatively, you may save this jam almost indefinitely if you jar it using a proper canning method.