Dilled Green Tomatoes

When the garden gives you more green tomatoes than you know what to do with, pickle them with dill. Small, firm green tomatoes packed into jars with garlic, celery, green pepper strips, and a big spray of fresh dill, then covered with a hot vinegar brine. Four weeks later, you’ve got tangy, crunchy pickled tomatoes.

Use pickling salt, not table salt. Table salt has anti-caking agents that cloud the brine and can give it an off taste. Pickling salt dissolves cleanly and keeps the liquid crystal clear.

The tomatoes need to be small and very firm. Soft or large tomatoes turn mushy during the 4-week cure and lose all their snap. Cherry tomatoes work especially well here because they pickle evenly and pop in your mouth.

Kitchen Tips

• Sterilize the jars properly before packing. Boil them for 10 minutes or run them through the dishwasher’s sanitize cycle.
• Pour the brine while it’s still hot. The heat kickstarts the pickling process and helps seal the jars.
• Pack the jars tightly. Tomatoes that float above the brine won’t pickle properly and can spoil.
• Store in a cool, dark place during the 4-week cure. Once opened, keep in the refrigerator.

Variations

• Add a whole dried red chili pepper to each jar for a spicy version.
• Toss in a teaspoon of mustard seed and celery seed with the brine for a more complex pickle.
• Try this same brine and method with green cherry tomatoes for bite-sized pickled snacks.