Canning Tomato Sauce

We were really excited to grow tomatoes this summer. We bought 5 varieties, two of them were paste tomatoes. I wanted to can my own basic tomato sauce. This last year we stopped using canned tomato products after reading this article on the 7 Foods Experts Won't Eat. Mr. Ramon and I have already cut out canned foods like soups, beans etc. When I read this we switched to tetra pack tomatoes as jarred varieties are soooo expensive.

Our tomatoes had s slow start due to the long cold spring. This past month and a half have been super sunny and we have had some really good yields. That allowed me to can up my first tomato sauce.

It all starts with fresh ripe tomatoes. Here are some of the San Marzano I used for this sauce. Beautiful!

A quick wash and remove the stems. There are many ways to go about sauce and I am lucky to have a Vita Mix Blender that I can use to puree them, skin and all. Without this option you would want to quick blanch them in hot water and toss into an ice bath to slip the skins off. I also leave the seeds in as they will be pureed as well. You could remove the seeds if you want. 

Once I have them blended super smooth I put them in a large stock pot to cook down to my desired thickness. I left this sauce a little thin knowing I can always thicken it when I use in in my recipes. 

While it simmers away I sterilized my jars and got my water bath ready to process them once filled. 

I added some lemon juice to each jar, filled with the hot tomato sauce and processed for 35 minutes. Here are the gorgeous jars once done. I hope to get enough tomatoes to make up a couple more batches. 

Tomato Sauce

Wash, trim and remove stems from your tomatoes. 

If you have a high powered blender you can belnd your tomatoes with then skins and seed intact until smooth. 

If you want to remove the skins: drip each tomato into boiling water for 30-60 seconds until skins split. Immediately put tomatoes into ice water. Remove skins with your hands. 

If you want to remove the seeds, slice in half and scoop out with a spoon. 

If you are not pureeing in a blender, you will need to simmer tomatoes until soft then puree with a hand blender, blender or food processor until smooth. 

Place your pureed tomatoes into a saucepan or stock pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and let simmer until you reach the desired consistency. 

Using sterilized jars, add 2 teaspoons per quart or 1 tablespoon per pint of lemon juice in the bottom of each jar. Fill with hot tomato sauce up to 1/2 ince from rim. Place hot lid and rings on and tighten. Water bath process for 35 minutes. 

Tomato Summer Squash Gratin

When planting our first garden together this summer I knew that squash would be easy to grow and provide us with some actual "eating from the garden" satisfaction. I also know that squash can overrun a garden and leave you with piles and piles to work through. 

We decided to plant several summer squash and a early winter squash. We put in Spineless Beauty Zucchini, Yellow Zebra Zucchini and Yellow Crookneck Squash - all organic starts from our local nursery. We have had a nice steady flow of squash this summer and have enjoyed them grilled, in bread and raw in salads. 

I was super excited to grow my own tomatoes but knew I needed to be ready for disappointment if summer just didn't bring enough heat. But the good news is - I can get beautiful local, organic tomatoes at our neighborhood co-op. 

I think the idea of a summer gratin sounds delish. Actually the idea of anything gratin sounds good to me. To "gratin" something means to top it with a browned crust of breadrumbs, grated cheese, and/or butter. In this case I want to take care how I prepare the veges as these two items can get soupy and mushy when cooked due to their high moisture content. But once you have a good technique in place you have a wonderful summer dish that is good fresh out of the over or room temperature. 

Summer Vegetable Gratin 

• 1lb of summer squash sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
• 1lb of zucchini sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
• 4 large tomatoes sliced in 1/4 inch slices
• 2 onions sliced thin 
• olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• salt/pepper
• 1 cup bread crumbs fresh or dried
• 2 shallots minced
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Toss sliced summer squash and zucchini with 1 tablespoon of salt and place in colander to drain. Drain for about 1 hour. Arrange squash and zucchini on a folded kitchen towel or several papertowels, cover with another towel or more papertowels and press to remove any additional liquid. 

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Oil a 13x9 baking dish. 

Arrange tomato slices on a kitchen towel or several paper towels. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of salt and let stand 30 minutes. 

Preheat a skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil and sautee your onions on medium low heat until they are soft and brown - about 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 

Place another towel or paper towels on top of tomatoes and press to remove liquid. 

In a small bowl combine garlic, 3 tablespoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and thyme. In large bowl, toss zucchini and summer squash in half of oil mixture.

First layer the zucchini and summer squash in the bottom of the 13x9 baking dish. Spread the onions over the squash evenly. Next layer the tomoaotes over the onions overlapping as necessary. Drizzle the rest of the oil mixture over the tomatoes. Bake until tomatoes are brown on the edges and vegetables are soft. About 45 minutes.

In a bowl mix the bread crumbs, shallots, parmesan and salt/pepper to taste. Turn oven broiler on. Sprinkle bread crumb cheese mixture over vegetables and put under broiler until topping is brown and crispy. Remove from oven and let sit 10-15 minutes before serving. 

We enjoyed this with a yummy roast chicken on the patio with some good friends. It was a perfect summer meal!

What’s For Lunch - Red Beans and Rice

This week we had a hard time deciding what we wanted to make for our lunches. The weather here in Seattle is pretty dreary with a side of cloudy sun. Not the weather to inspire fresh salads. But not quite soup weather either - I don't want to encourage this weather. I opted for an old easy favorite - Red Beans and Rice. 

This recipe is so easy and so tasty. It remains vegetarian with any tasty vegetarian sausage. I use a locally made vegetarian sausage called Field Roast. They don't have an andouille sausage so I used the Mexican Chipolte version. It is really spicy and flavorful.

Red Beans and Rice

Serves 5

• 1 can red beans - drained, rinsed and partially mashed
• 6 oz vegetarian sausage - andouille flavor preferred chopped
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 yellow onion chopped
• 3 stalks of celery chopped
• 1 bell pepper chopped
• 2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning 
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 cups cooked long grain brown rice

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, celery and onion mix to pan; sauté until soft and translucent.

Add sausage and cook about 4 minutes until brown. Add Cajun seasoning, salt, oregano, and garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add beans, 1/4 cup water, and tomatoes to pan; bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice.

I also made a quick tomato, cucumber, red onion salad for more vegetables and a crisp tangy contrast to the spicy main dish. 

Tomato, Red Onion and Cucumber Salad

• 1 cucumber peeled and sliced thin
• 1/2 red onion sliced thin
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes sliced in half

Mix all together in a bowl.

 In a seperate bowl whisk - 

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 4 tablesppons lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

 Pour over vegetables and toss together. 

I like to serve this meal with cornbread on the side. Enjoy!!