Tomato Glut = Sauce?

[WiZeR]

Hi Guys

Not been around of late, been a busy year. Allotment has fallen by the waist a little but. Except for the Polytunnel which I have looked after fairly well.

I brought home a supermarket bag full of lovely ripe tomatoes yesterday and need to find a way to preserve them. I would like to make them into a sauce.

Can anyone direct me to a quick easy method to turn these toms into lovely sauce that can be kept via freezing preferably.

[scarey55]

Hi WIZeR,
Take a look at the thread called Preserve tomatoes? by vegmonkey. Therer are lots of ideas there. The one I use Delia Smith's Fresh tomato sauce - details are in the thread but I got the link wrong the first time It should be deliaonline.co.uk
Enjoy
Clare.

[madderbat]

tomato soup

I've made two batches of fantastic soup this week. Good Housekeeping recipe as follows - failsafe and satisfying.

1 1/2 lb fresh tomatoes quartered
2 pints veg stock
1 stick celery chopped
1 small onion diced
1 rasher bacon chopped
1 oz butter
1 tbsp cornflour
herbs to taste (I use herbes de provence)
salt and pepper
1 tsp sugar if the tomatoes are not very flavourful (didn't need with mine)
cream (optional)

Fry the onions, celery and bacon bits in the butter. Add cornflour to make roux. Stir in veg stock and add tomatoes and herbs.
bring to boil and simmer for a while, whizz and return to pan. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir in a tablespoon of cream if using.

Serve with crusty bread.

[Vegmonkey]

Well remembered Scarey55 - fame at last! It's quite ironic really as we have had enough toms to nibble at but they are very slow producing, and are all sat green on the vine. Maybe a feed is necesary! If only i could actually use them in a recipe!

[scarey55]

Trouble is Vegmonkey that I haven't had one, not a single tomato to try out all the other great recipes on I put in 6 plants - the same as last year when I had millons of the bloody things and couldn't use them all. This year, the blight got them fairly early on and I didn't get a thing, not even one titchy green one. Still, you live and learn. I have saved some seed from supermarket ones for next year so... watch this space.
Courgettes on the other hand....

[Cutecumber]

A quick and very easy option is just to make a passata - it's just lightly cooked pureed tomatoes. I do this for freezing, because I can then turn the passata into anything rather than deciding when I have the glut of tomatoes in front of me.

Wash and chop your tomatoes - you don't need to skin them first. Put them in a saucepan. I sometimes put a drop of olive oil in, too, but it's not essential. On a low heat, stirring gently, allow the tomatoes to warm and soften. You can help them by squashing them down with a wooden spoon, too. Once they become a sloshy sauce - you will see that the flesh come off the skins - take if off the heat and cool it off a bit (just for safety).

Now, if you have a mouli-legumes, use it. Otherwise, a seive will do. Pass the mixture through the seive or mouli - the skins and seeds will be left behind and you just get a wonderful tomato sauce. It is thicker than tomato juice from a tin, but thinner than a puree.

Bag it up into useful quantities and chill or freeze it.

I can't recommend this highly enough - it is pure tomato that you can add whatever you like to. And it really is easy to do. An hour of light work is all that's required for a few pints of sauce!

For me, the best thing is that no onion or garlic pervades the freezer or fridge and seasoning can be adjusted according to what my final dish requires.

[Farmer_Gyles]

i was beginning to wonder what i was going to do with so many tomatoes
and then "she who cooks for england" (my mother) took my daughter and taught her to make soup .....
thats me sorted

[Vegmonkey]

Glad you've had a decent amount of courge's scarey, i spoke too soon on the ol' tomato front - have well been hit by blight now - gonna take the green ones off and put them next to some bananas as the ethylene gas they produce is mean to help the toms ripen. We;ll see!

[scarey55]

Bummer Vegmonkey,
bad luck. Still, there's always next year - good luck with the green ones tho. Mmm ? wonder if I can make similar sauce with courgettes

[wellie]

Vegmonkey, if you want to get in touch with Trousers and I, I would gladly let you have a truss or two of tommies from our greenhouse, and we're only an hour away? Up to you entirely but you'll have to be quick as I am giving them away quicker than Trousers can eat them. You could come for tea (or something stronger)?


scarey55, I shall be bringing you a jar of my very own sunblush tomatoes in olive oil, when we visit you soon?! Hazel hasn't died yet, having been subjected to a whole jar?

I tend to either semi-dry my tomatoes in the Rayburn, and then preserve them in kilner jars in oil, or 'slow-roast' them and just put them in containers for freezing. With slow-roasting them, you're reducing the 'water-content' and intensifying the flavours, so when you DO defrost the toms for use later, you're getting a less 'watery' matter to deal with, and much more of an intense flavour. Bit like tomato puree I like to think.

Other than that, see something related to what The Piglet does in term of his produce, he's normally got his finger right on the button and is sure to have a recipe/method to suit.

Good luck with it,

[Vegmonkey]

You guys are all so supportive! I was in the forest just this morning actually, in mitcheldean doing a previsit to the wilderness centre. Thanks for the offer but if i can't grow it i won't eat it...it'll motivate me more for next year....success will happen...!

[valmarg]

The following are recipes from The Australian Women's Weekly Tomato cookbook. Both freeze well.

FRESH TOMATO PASTA SAUCE

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic crushed
2lb tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons salt
125ml dry red wine
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons each finely chopped fresh basil, fresh parsley and oregano leaves.
Cracked black peppercorns

Heat oil in pan, add onion and garlic, cook, stirring until onion is soft. Add tomatoes, salt and wine, simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes, or until tomatoes are soft.

Add remaining ingredients and simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes, or until thickened.

SPICED TOMATO PUREE

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 small fresh red chillies, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dry red wine
60 ml water
1 kg tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

Heat oil in large pan, add onion, garlic and chillies, cook stirring until onion is soft. Add remaining ingredients, simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until sauce is thickened, Blend or process mixture in batches until smooth.