From our trip last week to Maples Acres Farm, we came away with some fresh produce, most importantly - tomatoes! The farm was brimming with them and they looked so juicy and delicious I had to buy some up to make some fresh tomato sauce to freeze. I would love to try my hand at canning properly one day, but this method works well for me for now.
Quite honestly the easiest and simplest method to getting your tomatoes cooked down to blend to freeze is by roasting them. I chop off the stem of the tomato but other than that, I'm using everything else so not much gets wasted. No skin to peel and no seeds to have to discard. Simple and easy. Just what this mama needs.
I started by cleaning the tomatoes in a simple water bath and giving them a good scrub. They came directly from the farm, so there was some but minimal dirt resting on the skin. I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and while that got ready, I had plenty of time to halve the tomatoes, pour some olive oil in a casserole dish, place tomatoes in the dish side by side and sprinkle more olive oil and some salt. This part is done. Place in oven for about 40-45 minutes checking towards the end so that they don't end up drying up. Allow to cool.
Once the tomatoes have cooled, I used a very simple and inexpensive blender to chop up. I like it to be a little thick and not watery, so it didn't take too much to get to my desired consistency. Pour into my clean freezer containers and store away.
I use about roughly 1-2 of these containers a week so I go through them quickly. I thaw in the refrigerator or on the counter-top. These little guys can be used for so many things from pasta sauce, pizza sauce or simply adding to a minestrone or soup.
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