A savory and sweet jam that’s as versatile as it is delicious.

Every August and September my household goes wild. These two months are a very magical time, it’s Tomato Time! Every person in my house gets this weird look in their eyes and what I like to call “tomato lust”. We all become uncontrollably ravenous for these juicy jewels because it’s really the only time of year when we eat these babies fresh. “If it’s a tomato outside of tomato season it most likely won’t be worth eating."; that's just our family’s motto. 

Tomato season can be a very inspiring season for me. I make tomato tarts, tomato sauce, tomato garlic pizza, tomato grilled cheese, etc…. Really the list goes on forever! I’m always trying to incorporate tomatoes into almost every meal I eat and even into some of my bakes. So, I figured if I want to get the most out of this seasonal bounty I should preserve some of the flavors I know and love. One of the best things I know how is to make, you know what I’m going to say, and that’s jam!

I took my love for fresh summer flavors and encapsulated it into a jar of fresh jam. Tomatoes combined with fresh shallots and thyme is more than a flavor match made in heaven. Together they make a beautiful symphony of flavors that is not just delicious but versatile as well. I can easily incorporate this tomato flavor bomb into many of my favorite summer dishes that I would normally use fresh tomatoes for. I’m ready to take my grilled cheese game to the next level. Are you?

Tomato and Shallot Jam

*Makes 1 half pint jar

2 heaping cups of cherry tomatoes

1 whole shallot, chopped

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

¼ tsp kosher salt

½ TBS light brown sugar

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 TBS water

4 sprigs of fresh thyme

Prepare the cherry tomatoes by cleaning them in a colander with cool running water, let excess water drain off and put aside.

In a small pot, heat the olive oil on low heat, add the chopped shallots and kosher salt. Cook until they become lightly browned and aromatic. Add the Worcestershire sauce and cook until the shallots become sticky. 

Add cherry tomatoes and water, turn up to medium heat, stir and cover the pot with a lid. Let the tomatoes steam and burst.

When the tomatoes begin to burst, gently mash them with a potato masher. Be very careful when mashing the tomatoes, they become tiny juice grenades during the steaming process. I’ve been burned many times by molten tomato juice, you’ve been warned!

After you mashed the tomatoes and tended to your third degree tomato juice burns, add the brown sugar and the leaves from the thyme. Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved and incorporated. Turn the heat down to low and continue cooking without the lid, stirring frequently. 

Cook tomatoes until you have reached a thick and jammy consistency. This is a bit of a slow cooking process so don’t rush it. A slow cook is crucial to get a rich tomato flavor and to get the tomato skins to soften. If you rush it with a higher heat you will run the risk of burning the jam, it will have a more diluted flavor and papery tomato skins; yuck! 

When your jam is nice and thick, you can run a spoon across the bottom of the pot to see if there’s any water left. If there’s a pool, continue cooking until there’s no liquid pool. If it’s thick and the bottom of the pot is clean, you can jar the jam in a half pint jar or in any glass container. The tomato jam will keep for 3 months in the fridge, that’s if it lasts that long!

*Note: You can use a variety of cherry tomatoes in your jam. I used red cherry tomatoes from my garden and yellow cherry tomatoes I got from my CSA. If you have a mixture the tomato flavor will be more complex. Variety is the spice so go for it!

I only recommend cherry tomatoes for this recipe. Bigger tomato varieties tend to have bigger seeds and tend to be not as sweet as cherry tomatoes. It may take longer to cook and you might not get the desired results.