Roasted Tomato Passata
I’ve been making this version of tomato sauce for years, ever since I got The River Cottage Preserves Handbook five years ago. It’s quick and easy and tastes AMAZING. Many of you asked for the recipe so here it is.
ROASTED TOMATO PASSATA
(adapted from The River Cottage Preserves)
4.5 pounds of ripe tomatoes
7 ounces of thinly sliced shallots or onions
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled and thinly sliced
a few sprigs of various herbs, thyme, basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary,
(I use one sprig of each if I have them)
1 teaspoon of sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup good olive oil
2 Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (optional)
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Cut tomatoes and place them cut side up in a single layer in a shallow dish. Scatter onions and garlic slices over the tomatoes, tuck herbs down under the tomatoes. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top, drizzle with olive oil and put in over. Bake for 1.5 or 2 hours.
Remove from oven, put into pan and bring to a slow simmer, cook until shallots are soft. Stir in balsamic vinegar. Pul through food mill with medium sized place, you want the seeds to be strained out but want a bit of texture to remain.
Proceed to can as you would tomato sauce, I did mine for 40 mine in a waterbath canner for pints. Check your favorite canning book for guidelines for canning tomato sauce.
This recipe is great because it can be used for pasta sauce, pizza sauce, it can be thinned with chicken stock to make a delicious tomato soup. I love the rich flavor, it’s well worth the effort to roast the tomatoes.
What’s your favorite way to use tomato sauce?
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Putting up Summer
Yesterday I spent the day getting my roasted tomato passata put up in the jars for this coming winter. I use the recipe from The River Cottage Preserves Handbook, which I discovered a few years ago. I like this book because it has recipes that are different than many preserving books, including things for slo gin and other interesting ways of putting up fruits and vegetables.
Over the past couple weeks I’ve been slow roasting my tomatoes in the oven with shallots, garlic, and herbs. When I finish a double batch, which is the amount that fills up my oven, I have been putting them in the freezer to have a marathon canning day. I ended up making 6 batches of sauce and it took me all night to get them sealed into jars.
One of the things I like about this method is that it smells heavenly, unlike the smell up canning plain tomatoes, which isn’t my favorite. I also like the finished product, it works well for pizza sauce, pasta sauce or it makes a perfect soup if mixed with some chicken stock. If I only had one way to put up tomatoes this would be it, though my tomato soup comes in a close second!
What’s your favorite tomato recipe?
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Friday Favorite: Zucchini Noodles
I’m a big fan of zucchini and my favorite way to eat it is julienned into zucchini noodles. There are so many ways to dress them up it’s easy to eat zucchini every day and never get sick of it. Earlier this week we had zucchini carbonara and it was fantastic.
This is also a great way to reduce processed food and add more vegetables to your diet. These noodles are really great, but there are a few tricks to make them more like pasta and less like zucchini. You can use a mandolin or a knife, I purchased this julienne peeler last year and LOVE it. I’m not one for unitaskers in the kitchen, but this one I am glad I have. To make noodles simply run the peeler around the outside of the zucchini avoiding the center where the seeds are (this part gets mushy and falls apart). You can also cut zucchini into lasagna noodles with a knife, I love lasagna made with zucchini.
After cutting your noodles sprinkle them with a generous amount of salt, I usually use a half teaspoon for each zucchini I cut. Let stand in bowl for 15-20 minutes. This step removes excess moisture from the zucchini and helps the noodles retain their shape. They are less likely to be mushy. Then strain out the salty liquid. If you use sea salt don’t throw this away, dilute it and use it in the garden, the minerals in the salt are good for the soil.
Steam or boil your noodles for a few minutes and you’re done. No need to salt because they will be lightly salty already. Top with your favorite toppings, a few of my favorites are: lemon, feta, and rosemary, or olive oil, black pepper, and parmesan, it’s also great with basil and olive oil, or with classic marinara. You really can’t go wrong with these, they are a great way to incorporate more vegetables into your diet!
Have you ever had zucchini noodles?
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Seaweed Snacks
I must admit, I love anything that tastes like the sea and seaweed no exception. If there is a seaweed salad on the menu, I will always order it. Lucky for me, here in Maine we have a few small companies that specialize in sustainably harvested, local seaweed. I put pieces of some varieties in my tea and soups, other varieties I use as a flavor enhancer, kind of like salt.
One of my favorites is nori, which I simply toast lightly in a cast iron skillet and eat like chips. It has a salty, mineral taste with a hint of the ocean as well. It’s FANTASTIC, pretty much one of my favorite snacks.
What’s your favorite healthy snack?
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MMMMMM
Grease saved from frying bacon + cast iron skillet + popcorn kernels = one delicious snack!
We’re big fans of popcorn as a snack, generally we pop it in ghee. Last time I used bacon grease and it was AMAZING. Also popping it in a cast iron skillet instead of the normal stainless steel pan made a difference in taste. Now I’m going to be eating bacon constantly so I can have this popcorn!
What’s your favorite snack?
