Preserved Roasted Tomato PurÉe Recipes

PRESERVED TOMATO PURéE

Steps:

• Peel, core and roughly chop tomatoes. Put in a large nonreactive pot, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Purée through medium disc of a food mill to remove skins and most seeds.
• Put a rack in a large stockpot or line pot with a folded kitchen towel, then fill with water and bring to a boil. Add quart or pint jars and boil 10 minutes. Jars may be left in warm water until ready to fill. Alternatively, sterilize jars by running them through a dishwasher cycle, keeping them warm in the machine.
• Place canning rings in small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and add flat lids to soften rubber gaskets. Rings and lids may be left in water until jars are filled.
• Bring purée to a boil, then down to a sturdy simmer and cook to reduce by one third, about 30 minutes. Ladle hot purée into warm jars, leaving a little more than 1/2 inch head space to accommodate lemon juice. If using citric acid, fill to 1/2 inch head space.
• Into every quart jar, add 2 tablespoons lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon citric acid. For pints, use one tablespoon lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid. If using salt, add 1 teaspoon to each quart or 1/2 teaspoon to each pint jar.
• Wipe jar rims clean with a damp towel. Place lids on jars, screw on rings and lower jars upright into pot of boiling water. Return to a full boil and process for 45 minutes for quarts or 35 minutes for pints. If there are mixed sizes, process for the longer time. Transfer jars to a folded towel and let cool for 12 hours. Jars will ping as they seal.
• Once cool, test the seals by removing rings and lifting jars by their flat lids. If a lid releases, the seal has not formed. Unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within one week or reprocessed. Rings and jars may be reused, but a new flat lid must be used each time.

OVEN-ROASTED TOMATO PASTE OR PUREE

Steps:

• Peel tomatoes. The easiest way to do this is to drop them into a container of boiling-hot water, leave for 1 minute, then drop them into a container of ice-water - the skin slips right off). Halve them and put into a baking pan large enough to hold them in one layer.
• Dribble with olive oil (the amount is arbitrary - I imagine that's about what I use), sprinkle with minced garlic, generously season with salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Give everything a stir to distribute.
• Pop into 350F oven and roast for about 3 hours (this is approximate - it all depends on how thick you want your puree or paste).
• When they're done, I like to mash the tomatoes into a paste because I like a more rustic texture. If you want smoother, use a processor.
• I keep the puree/paste in a tupperware container, in the refrigerator, covered by a thin film of olive oil to prevent oxidization. I dig into it almost daily to provide a burst of flavour into many, many dishes like soups, stews, sauces, gravies, omelettes, etc.
• This freezes well, too.

ROASTED TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Spread tomatoes, onion, and red bell pepper in 1 layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil over tomato mixture and season with salt and pepper.
• Roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes; add garlic and continue roasting until tomato mixture is tender, about 15 more minutes.
• Bring chicken broth, basil, and parsley to a boil in a large stockpot; reduce heat and simmer.
• Put half the tomato mixture into a blender. Cover and hold lid down; pulse a few times before leaving on to blend until smooth, adding a small amount of the warm chicken broth if liquid is needed. Pour pureed tomato mixture into stockpot with chicken broth. Puree remaining half of tomato mixture and add to chicken stock mixture, mixing well. Simmer for 5 minutes.