Canned Tomatoes Overwinter. Three Flavorful Recipes

For most things you cook, you really can’t do without tomato sauce. During winter, they are on the market, but not quite as tasty, nor as juicy. Plus their price goes up as their quality goes down, so we mostly resort to canned products. But we can make these at home, from good quality vegetables, maybe grown in our own garden, to preserve some of that great summer flavor. Here are three recipes for canned tomatoes overwinter.

Organic, additive-free recipe

• 10 kilos organic tomatoes
• 2 garlic heads
• 100 grams fresh basil

Wash the tomatoes (optionally peel them), cut them into large pieces and put them in sterilized jars. Fill them up with compact content, not leaving air gaps, but not pressing too hard either. Add 2 – 3 garlic cloves and a few fresh basil leaves on top.

Then place all the jars on a cloth towel in a large pot, pour in water up to the lids and start boiling. Let them boil for 15 – 20 minutes, then turn off the heat. Cover the pot with aluminium foil or a lid and leave the jars in the hot water for the night. The next day, you can take them out, dry and label them and keep them in your pantry for the months to come.

Canned tomatoes overwinter. Marinara sauce

• 8 kilos tomatoes
• 1 cup minced onion
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 1/4 cup of fresh basil, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup lemon juice

Take a large pot and cook the onion and garlic in oil and salt until they turn golden. Then add the chopped tomatoes and let them boil for 15 – 20 minutes, until they soften. Now use a fine sifter or a bolt to separate the seeds and peels. Once you have just the pulp, but it back into the pot and add the basil and parsley. Boil until the quantity is reduced by a third or even half.