A vibrant, tangy sauce made using a simple wet-brining method. This process bypasses the mold issues common with dry-salting tomatoes, resulting in a perfectly active, bubbly ferment that works beautifully as a pizza base, pasta sauce or dip.
It might be an overstatement but I think this might be the best ferment of my life.
I have tried a few variations of fermented tomatoes over the past few years, but rarely ended up with something I actually wanted to eat.
Either the top went mouldy, or the tomatoes simply didn’t ferment properly. I used to chop and squash them with salt like a dry ferment, but switching to a simple wet brine has completely changed the game.
This winning combination, is a mix of pierced vine tomatoes and a couple of roughly chopped romano peppers, covered in a 2% brine solution and left to ferment for 5 days.
The ferment is then scooped out, blended with a couple of cloves of garlic (fermented garlic if you have it) and sieved for a few minutes to drain the excess liquid.
Hot tip: save that excess tomato-infused liquid – it is delicious tossed with plain pasta and olive oil ( if you’re also GF, Rummo gluten-free spaghetti works so well for this).
So far, this sauce has been eaten spooned onto savoury sourdough pancakes (or bagels), as a base for puttanesca (so good), or used as a tangy salsa dip for chips. It hits that perfect fermentation sweet spot with a delicious tang.
But…I also think it would also make an incredible base for sourdough pizzas (something to try next), or as a base for a fermented bloody mary.
If you haven’t managed to get a good lacto-fermented tomato with the classic method or you’re looking for an easy fermentation win, try brining them instead like this recipe below. It’s quick, delicious and you just can’t beat a good tomato.
LACTO FERMENTED TOMATO & ROMANO RED PEPPER SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
Tomatoes: 3 large vine tomatoes (or enough small tomatoes to fill half your jar).
Peppers: 1 large or 2 small red peppers (Romano peppers work best).
Garlic: 2–3 cloves of raw or fermented garlic (optional, for blending).
Salt: Sea salt (calculated for a 2% brine solution).
Water: A little boiling water to dissolve the salt, topped up with room temperature water.
Equipment: A clean 1-liter Kilner jar, chopping board, knife, sieve, blender.
METHOD
- Prep the vegetables: Quarter the tomatoes and roughly chop the peppers. Pierce the tomato skins in a few places with the tip of a knife.
- Weigh the veg: Place your mixing bowl on the scale, set it to zero, and weigh your chopped tomatoes and peppers.
- Measure the salt: Calculate 2% of the weight to find your salt amount (e.g., 500g of vegetables = 10g salt).
- Make the brine: Dissolve your measured salt in a small splash of boiling water, then top it up with enough room-temperature water to eventually fill your jar.
- Submerge: Pack the tomatoes and peppers into your Kilner jar. Pour the salt-water brine over them until they are completely covered, leaving a 1-inch gap at the top.
- Ferment: Seal the jar and leave it on the counter. Check on the ferment every 24 hours: it will be ready when the peppers and tomatoes are soft to touch and the liquid is active (little bubbles forming in the liquid).
- Strain: Pour the jar contents through a sieve.
- Blend: Transfer the strained tomatoes and peppers to a blender, add your garlic cloves, and blend until smooth (adding a couple of cloves of raw or fermented garlic is a nice addition here).
- The sauce is now ready for eating straight away or can be kept in a sealed container or Kilner jar in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Serving Suggestions
My favourite way to eat this is sieved (after blending) to create a much thicker sauce, then spread generously onto hot sourdough pancakes (or bagels) with a dollop of fresh nettle pesto on top. If you sieve it – save the liquid that you strain off – this is the gold to toss into pasta later! It’s so delicious, trust me.
The thicker sauce also makes an incredible, tangy base for sourdough pizzas, pasta sauces, or used as a salsa dip for chips.
Fermentation Notes
Always keep the vegetables fully submerged beneath the brine. Small bubbles, a pleasant sour aroma and slightly cloudy brine are all signs of a healthy fermentation. If you notice any fuzzy mold growing above the brine, discard the batch and start again.
Why 2% Salt?
A salt concentration of 2% of the vegetable weight creates the ideal environment for fermentation. It encourages the growth of beneficial lactic acid bacteria while discouraging unwanted microbes, allowing your tomatoes and peppers to ferment safely without molding.
- 400g vegetables = 8g salt.
- 500g vegetables = 10g salt.
- 600g vegetables = 12g salt.
As always I hope you enjoy, let me know if you if you make this and any thoughts etc.
With love, Fleur x