There are tons of tomato jam recipes floating around right now, but the first time I remember reading about it was last summer at Over a Tuscan Stove. Although Judy cooks, teaches, and blogs from Tuscany, the recipe for tomato jam came from a brochure that a friend mailed her from Sicily. Like all of my favorite Sicilian recipes, the jam recipe is very simple – just tomatoes, sugar, lemon juice, and a bit of fresh basil. I bookmarked it back then, but didn’t get around to trying it until recently.
If you’ve never visited Over a Tuscan Stove, you’re in for a treat. Judy shares seasonal recipes along with glimpses into the Tuscan lifestyle and her travels around Italy. And if you’re lucky enough to be planning a trip to Italy, check out her Dining Guides for Florence and Chianti and perhaps join one of her food tours or cooking classes. I certainly wish I were joining her for the special cooking week in Sicily this November!
Back to the Tomato Jam. I didn’t follow the exact recipe, but my version is pretty close to the original. I left out the basil and added crushed red pepper instead. The chili doesn’t add much flavor, just a hint of spice that I thought would be fun. Please head to Over a Tuscan Stove for the original recipe. You can see my version at the bottom of this post.
Sicilian Tomato Jam recipe at Over a Tuscan Stove
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Other recipes to try from Over a Tuscan Stove:
Previous Food Blog Fridays:
- Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake from Baking Bites
- Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting from Simply Recipes
- Lemon Poppyseed Zucchini Bread from 101 Cookbooks
- Fattoush from Kalyn’s Kitchen
- Spice-Rubbed Flank Steak from Blue Kitchen
- Lemon Buttermilk Popsicles from Whipped
- Apricot Almond Tart from Tartelette
- Blueberry Orange Cornmeal Pancakes from Satisfied
- Luscious Lemon Bars from Alpineberry
Sweet and Spicy Tomato Jam
adapted from this recipe at Over a Tuscan Stove
2 pounds tomatoes, peeled, cored and seeded
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
In a medium pot, stir together tomatoes, sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice and the crushed red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Let simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally (you’ll need to stir more often as jam thickens), until mixture is thick and jammy, about an hour and 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Pour into a clean container, let cool, then refrigerate until ready to use. Yield: a little over 1 pint. Can be kept refrigerated for about two weeks.
Gotta say, I’m not a fan of spice – especially in things that aren’t usually spicy, like jam. However, I might give this a try without the red pepper!
6:45 am Sep 10th, 2010My grandmother Denny used to make something we called “Chili sauce” which was kind of a less thickened version of this. Everyone in my family loved to eat it on toast. I bet this is even better, sounds great!
7:42 am Sep 10th, 2010i will have to try this. i love a good condiment sauce. do you know that you have 2 pop ups ads when someone comes to your blog? just wanted to make sure you knew this
sometimes people don’t know.
7:58 am Sep 10th, 2010This looks so good. Reminds me of an “jam” that my grandmother made. Thanks for reminding me of the good times of big italian family dinners… Have a great weekend.
6:56 pm Sep 10th, 2010yum i love anything spicy. this looks delicious!
1:43 am Sep 13th, 2010That looks great, love the spice!!
8:42 am Sep 13th, 2010Awesome! I just love this jam!
9:58 am Sep 13th, 2010Fantastic is just one of the many words that come to mind. I cooked this up a couple of days ago changing just a few things. I added lots of fresh basil and changed out the pepper flakes for cayenne pepper. It turned out wonderful however, I have one question. Mine didn’t thicken up like jam, it is a littl runny. Did I not cook it long enough? What did I do wrong?
12:32 pm Sep 13th, 2010My mom just bought some spicy jam at a festival this weekend. I have been wanting to make some ever since. Looks good!
6:29 pm Sep 14th, 2010love the idea of tomato jam. delicious, I’m sure. beautiful photos. thanks for sharing.
10:28 pm Sep 14th, 2010Very tasty! I’m going to try another batch with basil (original recipe). Good thing I just got a whole box of tomatoes at a great price. Thanks for sharing the idea.
6:03 pm Sep 20th, 2010[...] Spicy Tomato Jam from Over a Tuscan Stove [...]
5:48 pm Nov 12th, 2010[...] Spicy Tomato Jam from Over a Tuscan Stove [...]
5:45 pm Feb 4th, 2012