Comments on: Getting Saucy at Tomato Time!

By: Gina

Gina — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:12:39 +0000

My family and I make our Sauce every year from fresh tomatoes. It’s a family tradition. and we call it Nonna Fina Sauce, after my mother in law who use to make at least 100 – 32 oz containers every year. Our sauce is not loose and it taste heavenly!! My daughters and I just finished cooking 4 bushels of tomatoes . You only use plum tomatoes because they have the most pulp. The other tomatoes have too much juice/water. We put them in plastic containers and freeze them. Here is my families recipe.
I have pics and step by step video if you would like to see this and my italian recipes go to http://mamagrecipes.blogspot.com

Fresh Garden Tomato Sauce. A September Ritual. Us Italians just like to do more work! 4 Bushels = 7 hours of prep/cooking = 70 – 32oz plastic containers to freeze! Yes that’s right. I have a freezer Just for my sauce. Now that’s Italian or I’m just crazy. Maybe a little of both.
1st Step: Plum Tomatoes. Wash w/ dish soap and warm water. Place plum tomatoes on a large towel so they can dry.

2. Cut them up into 4 pieces. In large deep cooking pot put a little bit of olive oil just enough to coat the bottom and then put in the chopped up tomatoes. Only fill the pot 3/4 the way full.
Add 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp garlic, 4 pieces chopped basil. Boil and stir until tomatoes become soft and you see the skin on them peeling off. If you pinch one the sink peels off easy.

3. Take the tomatoes and pour them into a tomato milling machine or strainer machine. (pics on my blogspot) As you turn the handle you will see the pulp and juices come out on one side and the skin of the tomato on the other side.

Put the skins of the tomato through atleast 3 – 4 times. You will get a lot of pulp from the skins.

4. Next throw out the skins and place all the tomato sauce into a deep cooking pot.
Add 1/4 cup Olive Oil
2 tsp salt, 1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp black pepper, granulated garlic powder
6 gloves of garlic. sliced in half only
8 chopped up pieces of basil.

Stir frequently. Cover until it begins to boil then keep it uncovered through the rest of the time for about 30 – 45 minutes. The sauce will become thicker by boiling out the water from the tomatoes.

5. Place in 32 oz or 16 oz plastic containers and freeze. Last for over a year. To defrost- Lift cover and place on top of the container. Place in microwave for 7 minutes and then pour into a sauce pot & cook until hot.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:03:25 +0000

I’m guessing you could probably process the hot-packed jars in a water bath for 15 minutes, like I do for salsa? I actually prefer canning to freezing. It’s hurricane season here, and you never know when or how long the power might go out. I live in a neighborhood with lots of large, old trees. I love the trees, but it’s not unusual to have a big branch break somewhere in the neighborhood during a big storm.

By: Mary in Iowa

Mary in Iowa — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 05:21:12 +0000

I don’t blanch and skin the tomatoes, but I do remove most of the seeds to avoid appendicitis. That’s probably an old wives tale, but at my age, why take chances? I flip the seeds into a strainer over a 4 qt. saucepan, and stir and press them over and over until no more liquid drips into the pan. I then discard the seeds. The seeded tomatoes go into a large heavy pot. After the tomatoes have slowly bubbled (covered) for an hour, I scoop them in batches into the strainer to partially drain into the pan below. They then go into the food processor for pureeing, and back into the pot to cook down a bit more. The sauce is quite thick, about half way between store sauce and tomato paste. I don’t season it until it is thawed and cooked into whatever recipe I’m making. The juice in the pan is boiled for about 10 minutes and frozen in jars. It is much sweeter and yummier than store-bought tomato juice. By draining much of the liquid, you get two products and save lots of energy needed to cook the tomatoes for hours to evaporate the juice.

By: jsudol007

jsudol007 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:47:49 +0000

I found Maria’s recipe for Fresh Salsa on Rodale.com. Here’s the link: http://recipes.rodale.com/Recipe/marias-fresh-salsa.aspx. I’m going to give it a try this weekend!

By: Sandy in Wisconsin

Sandy in Wisconsin — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:24:05 +0000

Does anyone have an easy, delicious recipe for salsa? Possibly one that can be frozen rather than canned? Thank you!

By: Donna in Wisconsin

Donna in Wisconsin — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:00:06 +0000

Sounds great, Maria. I like the idea of the freezer bags too. We had another cold spell last night (threatened frost in the forecast, but I don’t think we got it). Looking forward to trying this.

By: Donna in Delaware

Donna in Delaware — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:08:05 +0000

I’m jealous. But, next year………..

By: Maria (farm country kitchen)

Maria (farm country kitchen) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 20:39:50 +0000

Hey ya’ll!

The tomatoes are on the stove now and filling the house with the happy smell of sauce. Bubbling, bubbling, foaming and slowly ever so slowly reducing. Manicotti for dinner tonight if I have any strength left. Otherwise spaghetti.

By: Gary

Gary — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 05:20:08 +0000

My tomatoes are still very green and small, cool weather and rain to blame, have hopes of making salsa and many bacon and tomato sandwiches. Your recipe looks easy enough to try to make sauce so I will give it a shot. I too will try the bag method since we don’t own a freezer besides the small one above our fridge.

By: Denise

Denise — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:49:38 +0000

I read someplace (maybe cooks illustrated) that the stuff around the seeds has loads of flavor, though the seeds can be quite bitter. The time saver is significant here with no seeding or skinning.
I would suggest that the herbs be added at the end of the cooking. Essential oils (from the herbs) will cook out (evaporate) rather quickly and especially with such a long cooking time. I will try this recipe… and give feed back.