Thursday, February 10, 2011

Tomato sauce time

Finally I got enough ripe tomatoes and the time to make my tomato sauce! Similarly to Laura over at Our Wee Farm I loosely based my recipe on a combination of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe that I actually found at The Paupered Chef and this tomato sauce recipe that I had in my recipe collection. It's just fantastic to be able to harvest these great big juicy ripe Brandywine Pinks. They will definitely be featuring in the garden next year.

So we start off with 6kgs worth of tomatoes:

Ingredients at the ready

Pressing the tomatoes and onion through the sieve
I found this process easier by whizzing it in the food processor first (post photo)

The pressed/sieve juice with added vinegar, sugar
and spices goes back in the pan

After much bubbling it's thick thicker!

So 6kgs of fruit produced 11 1/2 300g bottles - several hours later..
PHEW!
But hey, it's delicious!










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10 comments:

  1. Tanya MurrayFebruary 10, 2011 at 8:39 PM

    Sorry. don't mean to be a drag, but do you remember how many kilos of tomatoes made that many bottles? I didn't keep a track last year and I was hoping to be more prepared (and economical) and process a full batch of my fowlers bottles next time. I'm sure we planted a Brandywine this year (loved it last year) but can't seem to see it anywhere amongst the others.

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  2. kiwinewtFebruary 10, 2011 at 10:04 PM

    Is it as thick as normal tomato sauce? Mine always comes out waaaay too runny :(

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  3. Cabbage Tree FarmFebruary 11, 2011 at 6:44 AM

    Hi Tanya
    No problem!
    It was a hefty 6kgs I started off with. Hope you find that BW tomato! What are fowlers bottles?

    Hi Kiwinewt, it is runny not as thick as store-bought ketchup. But that's OK, the flavour is good! I guess I could have added cornflour to thicken..?

    Hello Amanojaku
    Thanks for stopping by. I had a look at your blog but is there a way to translate it into English?

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  4. Laura @ Our Wee FarmFebruary 11, 2011 at 7:25 AM

    Mmmmmm go us!
    :)

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  5. Laura @ Our Wee FarmFebruary 11, 2011 at 7:29 AM

    Bridget, mine is super thick, I just kept simmering it so it reduced down - end up getting less sauce obviously - I got 4 bottles out of...wait for it...10kg! Even though I thought it a little sweet Lloyd says its gorgeous!

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  6. Cabbage Tree FarmFebruary 11, 2011 at 8:00 AM

    Oh wow Laura 10kgs!
    Hmm.. maybe I should tip it back in the pan and reboil until it's thick.

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  7. Cabbage Tree FarmFebruary 11, 2011 at 1:45 PM

    I spoke to a fellow preserver today and they suggested reheating the sauce and adding cornflour to thicken.
    Suppose I should do this before I put them all away!
    Just came home with a good haul of plums...I'm thinking jam!

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  8. ShaheenFebruary 11, 2011 at 10:03 PM

    Your brandywine tomatoes are are delight to look at. Wonderful. Homegrown tomatoes are the best! And what a great way to preserve them as tommy sauce. Thick or think who cares, its home-made :)

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  9. Tanya MurrayFebruary 12, 2011 at 9:37 AM

    Thanks CTF, Wow I thought you guys would have Fowlers over there! They are an old preserving bottling company popular here in Oz. They do 1 pint rubber stopper bottles that I use for sauce.

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  10. Cabbage Tree FarmFebruary 13, 2011 at 8:23 AM

    Hi Mangocheeks
    Yes indeed and it tastes great.

    Hi again Tanya
    I saw your post re. the nasturtium seeds and saw the Fowler jars you mentioned. We have Agee brand here, I guess they are very similar although I'm not sure about the rubber stoppers. The Agee jars have seals and you use a screw cap to hold them tight until they're sealed.

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