Cook the Issue- Puree and Two Fresh Tomato Sauces

Puree
Penne with Vodka sauce

By ICDOCEAN1, member

August 12th, 2010 in Gallery

I had such an overload of assorted tomatoes all of a sudden and I had little time to think about them since I was in the middle of starting a new quilt, but once again, I made the puree and turned it into a tomato vodka sauce and used some of it for my red sauce with eggplant that needed more tomato. We'll be having that for dinner on Sunday, but the sauce is ready to be put into containers for the freezer.

We had the vodka sauce tonight with a few chicken meatballs (ground too much chicken the other night), penne, freshly grated Romano cheese, and a salad. Good dinner! Oops, forgot the garlic bread for the photos.

Now maybe when I think of it I'll actually make the ketchup in the issue, but a good sauce will always be my first choice if I have to do something with too many garden fresh tomatoes.

posted in: Gallery

liamsaunt writes: I know, pielove, lots of tomatoes! I buy them from a farm, they come in big 13 lb boxes--I bought three boxes.

I do have a Foley food mill but it does not have changeable plates and it is a very fine mill--#101. I think I'll just get the hopper tomorrow, I walk by a Williams Sonoma on my way home.

I have a standing freezer in my basement so I usually process a bunch of tomatoes all at once and keep them in there. We eat a lot of tomatoes. Posted: 7:59 pm on August 12th

Pielove writes: Wow, 40 pounds of tomatoes!! Posted: 1:41 pm on August 12th

ICDOCEAN1 writes: I just cut up the tomatoes and simmer as the recipe suggests and I use an old Foley food mill that is a regular workhorse in my kitchen, pretty old and ugly, but many a tomato and sauces have passed through it. It collects the seeds and the skins. Several rinses for a huge batch, but still works like a charm for me.

Years ago when I was young and wanted to make a lot of sauce and we grew the tomatoes or could buy a bushel, we would hand squish them after cleaning and coring just because "grandma" did it that way then add to the pot simmer down for sauce and put through the food mill that collects the skins and the seeds. There can be a lot of water so I simmer until it all pretty much has evaporated (certainly longer than instructed). The puree is in the food processor,the second photo and if you have a lot process in batches. Put the puree through the mill at this time and freeze, my choice since I no longer can.

If I had 40 lbs of tomatoes right now, I would process a several pounds at a time because I have other things to do and I am alone in the kitchen. I think that I have done maybe 30 lbs all summer and I have containers marked in the freezer and now two sauces ready for at least 4 meals.
Posted: 10:46 am on August 12th

liamsaunt writes: How did you process the tomatoes? I have 40 lbs. of romas on my kitchen counter to process this weekend. Usually I peel and seed them by hand, but the tomato hopper in the magazine looks like it might save a lot of time and effort. Do you have one of these machines? Posted: 9:47 am on August 12th