Thursday, October 7, 2010

Heirloom Tomato Basil Sauce

29 lbs of organic heirloom tomato's





 Aren't these baby's beautiful?? That's exactly what I thought when I saw them. I literally couldn't take my eyes off them until I had them safely in my cart! I had been thinking about making my own tomato sauce and going back and forth on whether are not to invest in a pressure cooker with all the talk about tomato's. Well today my mind was made up. I had these insanely beautiful tomato's and I would never forgive myself  if I didn't make my own sauce. And so it begins.. oh first I should tell you that I did run to the store to see if there was that one pressure cooker I had been eyeing for months but of course it was gone the day I decided to purchase it. Anyway I will be investing in one soon. Lets face it I'm gonna need it!
 For my recipe today I was very cautious about only using garlic, onion and basil, and about adding the lemon juice to each jar before filling. I followed Ball Blue Books recipe and also a recipe I found at http://locallemons.com/local_lemons/2009/09/canning-tomato-sauce.html  I sort of followed hers to start and then finished with ball blue book for safety guidelines, times etc.

First I roasted them with olive oil, garlic and onions.
In so many recipes I had found they all started with blanching them in a hot water bath and then an ice water bath to peel the skins. But why not roast them to enhance the flavor and then there already to peel. Genius.

I then sauteed the onions and garlic in the same pan  I roasted them in.
After sauteing them I put them in a stock pot. I peeled the tomato's and squeezed them into the same pot.
Until they were all gone, I now know that next year I will be buying at least 70 lbs of tomato's because even though this one pot took me almost a half day, I know deep down that regular old tomato sauce from the store just won't do. Not anymore, how could it? Not after tasting and smelling this.


Aren't  these jars cute? I found them at Walmart. There Better Homes and Gardens.

4 quarts and 3 pints..yep that's it.

All I want to do now is make pasta..

Love love love this!!

This is all with in 4 months:) and I didn't take pictures of the other shelfs..
 And I don't plan on stopping.....anytime soon:)

4 comments:

  1. Amy....you should be so proud of yourself. Look at the reward you have. Next year; I'm canning tons. Oh and the tomato sauce looks so amazing, I wish you could here me say all this cause it's with great expression:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thankyou Ange!!! I can't wait to can pickles with you next year:)

    ReplyDelete
  3. WOW you are awesome: look at those jars!!!! Doesn't it feel great??? So rewarding. Let me know how the apple thyme jelly goes. The more thyme the better---I don't think you can use too much;). And be careful it 'over-gels' easily! I am increasingly curious re: recipes with high-pectin fruits that don't call for additional pectin...

    ReplyDelete
  4. I will, I've never made a jelly before but once I saw your blog on apple thyme I was intrigued:) I will let you know how it turns out. Canning is very rewarding I absolutely love it!! and I love your blog:)

    ReplyDelete