The winter holiday season is high time for serving pickled herring on the table as a pålegg, or topping for the bread. One of the traditional favorites is tomato herring. Following on from my story about Juviksild and their wonderful herring, they’ve kindly allowed me to share their recipe for tomatsild “tomato herring” with you.

This is an easy and delicious recipe to make at home or even give away as gifts. All you need is a few minutes to mix together the ingredients and then wait a day before diving in. This recipe features Juviksild’s spiced filets and they have a wonderful aroma of cloves, perfect for that holiday warmth. If you can’t access Juviksild’s herring, you can swap it for a good quality pickled herring.

Tomato herring deserves a place at the table and goes great on top of a fresh piece of bread with a good dollop of butter in-between. You can also top on hearty crackers.

Juviksild’s Tomato Herring (tomatsild)

Makes one ½ litre jar

• ¼ cup (50 ml) oil
• ¼ cup (50 ml) tomato puree
• ¾ cup (150 ml) granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• ¼ cup (50 ml) white vinegar (7 %)
• ½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1 package of Juviksild søt kryddersildfilet Original OR about 250 g (3 filets) pickled herring, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 small onion, sliced into rounds
• 2 bay leaves
• Fresh dill, if desired

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Gently heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat, stir in the tomato puree and let it simmer for a minute. Remove the saucepan from the stove and stir in the sugar, dissolving it. Add in the water, white vinegar, and peppercorns and stir to combine.

In a glass jar, layer the herring pieces and onion slices. Add in the bay leaves and fresh dill, if using, and pour the tomato mixture over the top, ensuring it covers everything. Place a lid on top and refrigerate for 24 hours before serving with fresh grain bread and butter.

The tomato herring will last up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

For more great recipes and inspirational ways to serve herring head to Juviksild’s page.