Everybody knows that a sweet, tart, extremely juicy tomato is one of the best parts of summer. They brighten up a french bread pizza, are essential for a BLT casserole, and—my personal preference—are sublime to bite into raw, just like you would an apple.
And the juice! If you're quick enough to collect it, it becomes a nice base for easy dressings and light sauces, like in this bright tomato salad, where it marinates with olive oil and fresh oregano. Or this steak panzanella, where it blends flawlessly with balsamic, garlic, and basil. Tomato juice is almost as magical as the tomato itself—almost being the operative word.
The juiciness of a great tomato isn’t always a good thing. It's great when you're making a messy tomato sandwich, but not so great when you’re baking a tomato pie. Because in the oven, tomatoes will just release more and more juices—and that can (and will) leave your pie or quiche with a soggy crust.
Luckily, this wet atrocity can be prevented. It’s easy—and you definitely already have the secret weapon you need to pull it off. What is the secret weapon, you ask? Salt. Through its magic (note: it's actually not magic at all, but rather the chemical reaction osmosis), salt can cure a tomato's juice problem.
Osmosis never tasted so good.
When you simply salt a tomato, you not only draw out the juices, but you also concentrate the fruit's flavor. And Epi's Food Editor, Anna Stockwell, says salting tomatoes before baking is essential. She learned this the hard way, when coming up with her latest Tomato and Cheese Cobbler recipe. “Before I started, I suspected I’d have to do this step, but I tried it without." she said.
Her tests confirmed salting is a must. "Even when I tried roasting the tomatoes beforehand, it wasn’t enough to keep the cobbler from being too watery. It was like tomato cobbler soup."
To prepare your tomatoes for a cobbler, pie, or any other oven situation, slice them and toss them with a teaspoon of salt. Then lay them on a clean dish towel for 15 minutes. Finally, pat them dry with more clean towels.
The process adds a few minutes to your prep time, but it's the key to preventing that unwanted soup at the bottom of your pan. And anyway, great tomatoes only come around once a year—why not spend some time with them once they're here?
