What is this? Well, it's not tomato sauce, salsa, tomato soup, etc. It is my version of a Tomatoes that I used for many, many things. And, if you know me well, you know it is easy.
Little Red Hen's "Tomato Base"
19 Cups of Tomatoes
1 Cup Chopped Onions
Salt
Lemon Juice
Minced Garlic (optional...to taste)
Directions: Wash and Quarter the tomatoes. Place in the blender and pulse ...with the skins on. Place Tomatoes and onion into a kettle. Bring to a boil and reduce down by half. Place into jars and add 1 Tablespoon lemon juice to each pint jar and 2 Tablespoons lemon juice to each quart jar. Add a 1/2 teaspoon salt per pint and 1 teaspoon per quart jar. Remove air bubbles and place lids and rings. Process Pints for 40 minutes and Quarts for 45 minutes in a Hot Water Bath (see Ball Blue Book of Canning for processing type and times). Just an FYI, having the skins keeps the mixture red in color and does not look take on an orange hue.
Now, what do you do with this?
Spaghetti Sauce: Just add the herbs and meat. It is robust and delicious. Even folks who don't like Spaghetti traditionally like this.
Salsa: This is a great base for a fresh Salsa. Add your typical ingredients and you are ready to go.
Soup Base: Add this when making Minestrone our Manhattan Clam Chowder. It also makes a very good Tomato Basil soup.
Give it a try!
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