Too many tomatoes? Never fear – there are many ways to use or store your abundance!
Tomato Basil Soup
Ingredients
- 4 tomatoes – peeled, seeded and diced
- 4 cups tomato juice
- 14 leaves fresh basil
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Place tomatoes and juice in a stockpot over medium heat. Simmer for 30 minutes.
- Puree the tomato mixture along with the basil leaves, and return the puree to the stockpot.
- Place the pot over medium heat, and stir in the heavy cream and butter.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Do not boil
Tomato Spaghetti Sauce
Directions
- Blanch tomatoes in boiling water (I use about eight to ten large tomatoes for one batch – typically makes one huge pot of spaghetti and a few breakfast pizzas) until skin bursts.
- Remove from pot and put in cold water. Core and skin (I typically wash a large part of the seeds out then too, don’t worry about getting them all, they’re fine).
- Dice a medium onion and two small green peppers. Saute in pan with a tiny amount of olive oil (about a tsp?) And 1/2 tbsp minced garlic. I prefer them with a little bite left to them, some people prefer them cooked through. At this point, I put tomatoes back in their pot and use an immersion blender to puree them. You can also use a food processor or blender. I prefer the immersion blender for easier cleanup and convenience.
- Add 1-2 six oz cans tomato paste (not necessary, but I like both the color and flavor it adds) and keep blending until sauce consistency.
- Add the peppers, onions, and garlic. Continue cooking over medium-low heat.
- Add 1 tsp sugar, and salt and Italian seasoning to taste (those amounts vary a ton just based on what you like).
When it’s all cooked together and yummy, you’re done!
Pickled Tomatoes with Jalapenos
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
- 6 tomatoes, each cut into 6 wedges (1 1/2 pounds)
- 4 scallions, white and tender green parts only, thinly sliced
- 2 jalapenos, thinly sliced into rings and seeded
Directions
- Add the vinegar, brown sugar and salt to a medium saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring it as it boils. Remove the mixture from the heat and set it aside.
- Heat the oil in a medium skillet. Add the garlic, ginger, mustard seeds, pepper, turmeric, cumin and cayenne pepper. Stir the ingredients to incorporate and then cook, uncovered, over low heat for about two minutes. Carefully pour the hot oil mixture into the vinegar mixture and stir.
- Combine the tomatoes, scallions and jalapeno peppers to a large, heatproof bowl. Carefully pour the hot pickling liquid over the tomatoes and stir. Let the tomatoes stand at room temperature for four hours. You can also refrigerate the tomatoes for eight hours. Serve after they have cooled.
Or you can always wash, core and freeze your tomatoes until you have time to cook up some more recipes!