Italian Style Smoked Tomatoes

Ready to add a little smoky flavor to some of your veggies? Try these Italian Style Smoked Tomatoes. These tomatoes are great as is, over a nice green salad, or can be used in a variety of recipes.

While smokers are known for their ability to turn everyday proteins into barbecue ambrosia, they can also be used to vastly improve your favorite fruits or veggies.

With recipe options like smoked peach and jalapeno chutney, slow-smoked street corn, or these Italian Style Smoked Tomatoes, adding a little smokey flavor to your veggies is a great way to step up the flavor of your food.

Smoked Tomatoes

As we head into the summer months, tomatoes will become plentiful in the garden and in your favorite farm stand or farmers market. And if you grow your own garden like I do, sometime I need some ideas to use up all those fresh beauties.

This recipe for Italian Style Smoked Tomatoes can be used for any number of different tomato applications.

Whether you're planning on grinding the tomatoes when they're finished creating a rustic smoked tomato sauce, using them as the base for Shrimp and Grits, or an accompaniment for a perfectly grilled Ribeye, these tomatoes are packed with flavor and ready to go!

They will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator, or you can, can and process them and keep them for up to 6 months!

Recipe Rundown

Prep Time:	10 minutes
Smoke Time:	1 hour 15 minutes
Smoker Temperature:	200°
Internal Temperature:	N/A
Wood Pellets:	Apple, Cherry, Pecan
Servings:	6

Ingredients Needed for these Italian Style Smoked Tomatoes

Start with great tomatoes.

You want to use ripe but not overripe tomatoes for this recipe. Tomatoes that are too ripe or juicy will break down quickly in the smoker and yield a less than optimal finished product.

You can use whatever tomatoes you have access to, but there are a few varieties that won't work quite as well in your smoker. Smaller types like cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes aren't well suited to the smoker. Their higher than average water content means that they will break down further than other tomatoes,s and their smaller size means you can only cook them for a very short time.

Using larger varieties like beefsteak tomatoes, Roma/plum tomatoes, Hanover tomatoes, or larger heirloom varieties means you'll end up with much better-smoked tomatoes overall.

Preheat your smoker.

You'll want to keep your smoker at 200°f or slightly warmer, but not above 225°f during the smoking process.

You can smoke your tomatoes at a higher temperature, but you'll need to reduce the time in the smoker to make sure they retain their structural integrity.

Unlike other smoked items that take a longer time to cook, your smoker should be completely preheated when you put the tomatoes in. Longer proteins like pork butt, or brisket, can go in a less than perfectly preheated smoker without issue, as they will cook for so long, it really doesn't affect the finished product that much. 

If you put your tomatoes in too early, there's a good chance they will cook unevenly or acquire off-flavors from the incomplete combustion of the smoking wood. For the best tasting smoked tomatoes possible, make sure to let your smoker preheat fully before starting to cook. If you're not sure if the bbq thermometer on your smoker is accurate, consider investing in a quality meat thermometer to help monitor your pit temp. 

Go ahead and use whatever flavor wood you like for this recipe. We recommend lighter woods, like oak or applewood, for veggies and more delicate meats, but you can use whatever wood suits your tastes.

While your smoker is preheating, prep your tomatoes so that once the smoker is up to temp, you're ready to go!

How to make these Italian Style Smoke Tomatoes

Step 1: Prepare your tomatoes. Using a serrated knife, cut the whole tomatoes into quarters.

Tip: Keep the tomatoes about the size of a golf ball, and they'll stand up to the heat and smoke long enough to create a delicious smoked tomato flavor. 

Step 2: Marinate. Add the tomatoes to a pan and season with the olive oil, salt/pepper/garlic rub, and the basil.

You can leave the tomatoes at room temperature while your smoker preheats, but don't let them sit too long as they will begin to lose moisture from the salt in the rub!

Step 3: Smoke the marinated tomatoes. Place the pan into the smoker and let smoke for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until desired tenderness.

Step 4: Pull them. Once the tomatoes have softened and taken on a lovely smoky flavor to your liking, pull them off and enjoy as desired.

Smoking tomatoes is less of a science and more of an art, so make sure to monitor them closely so you can pull them out at just the right time. 

Using your smoked tomatoes.

Once you've smoked your tomatoes to perfection, you have several different options for enjoying them. 

You can dress them with a little balsamic vinegar and use them as an ingredient in a Panzanella salad with some grilled bread and fresh basil, or chop them lightly to create a delicious bruschetta topping. 

If you want to turn them into a sauce, you can remove the skins and run them through a blender or food processor to create an incredible smoked tomato Pomodoro sauce perfect for an easy spaghetti dinner or as a base for a bbq sauce. 

For preserving smoked tomatoes for later in the year, you can freeze them easily or place the smoked tomato filets into a mason jar and process them in the same fashion you would for freshly canned tomatoes.

Smoked tomatoes offer a ton of versatility throughout your kitchen and are an incredible way to utilize the bounty of a garden or farmers' market haul. Just remember to monitor them closely and enjoy them within 5 days if you are keeping them refrigerated!