With the recent heat waves, I’ve noticed that my neighbors’ tomatoes are going gangbusters. I love tomatoes and relish the time of year that local tomatoes, especially heirloom tomatoes, are in season. I’m always on the lookout for new and fun ways to use them.
I first learned of coaxing the water from a tomato in a Saveur magazine article about 10 years ago and filed it away in my mind. Shortly after that, a friend reported that he had tasted the most intriguing tomato apéritif at Clio Restaurant in Boston. When the term “tomato water” comes to you twice, it’s time to start paying attention.
After scouring the internet for information and reports of others playing with their tomatoes in such ways, I settled on the following for a fun and surprisingly delicious Tomatini.
It’s difficult to know exactly how much tomato water any given batch will yield, so err on the side of excess. Leftover nectar from my last batch held a nice, fresh flavor in the refrigerator for two days.
Tomatini
Ingredients
- 3-5 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into chunky pieces
- Ice cold vodka from the freezer
- Fresh basil
- Several grape or cherry tomatoes
- Several bocconcini (small mozzarella cheese balls), not more than 1 inch in diameter
Directions
Place martini glasses in the freezer to chill. Place the tomato pieces in a bowl and roughly mash with a potato masher. Set a colander into a large bowl and line it with several layers of cheesecloth or a clean, cotton kitchen towel and fill with the tomato pieces and any accumulated water. Cover the tomatoes loosely with the edges of the cheese cloth or towel and weigh down with a plate and several full cans from your cupboard. Store in the refrigerator for several hours or for however long your tomatoes are dripping. (You can save leftover pulp for other uses.) Stop if you begin seeing red liquid dripping. Into the chilled martini glasses, measure 2 parts tomato water to 1 part chilled vodka. Rub the rim of each glass with some fresh basil and garnish with the small tomatoes, bocconcini and more basil.