Universal Tomato Sauce from Fresh Tomatoes / Universalny Sos Pomidorowy ze Świeżych Pomidorów
A perfect universal tomato sauce made from fresh tomatoes which can be utilized for variety of dishes when pasteurized. I use this sauce for soups, tacos, spaghetti, ravioli, lasagna, pizza, variety of vegetables and the list goes on..... A perfect way to seal tomatoes in jars.
Ingredients
- 6 kg ripened tomatoes I used Big Boy tomatoes
- 20 grams salt
Instructions
- Wash tomatoes well and remove the stalks.
- Place the tomatoes cut into several smaller pieces in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook them until the tomatoes are cooked through. This can take up to 30 minutes. I do not remove the skins from the tomatoes, I just cut them into smaller pieces and sauté them. I used a blender to speed up the process but you can omit it. Blending the tomatoes helps if they have a lot of pulp.
- Press the cooked tomatoes through a fine sieve into another container. This will keep the skins and seeds.
- If you want to thicken it, cook the puree for another 40 minutes to evaporate excess water and only at the end of cooking add the salt.
- Pour the boiling puree into sterilized and dry jars. Immediately close each jar tightly.
- Before you can put the tomato puree away for the winter, the jars must be pasteurized.
- Pasteurization of jars in a pot of boiling water:Place a cotton cloth on the bottom of a wide pot. Place the jars next to each other, but not touching each other. Pour water to a maximum of 3/5 of the jars. Set the heat to medium and bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and pasteurize the jars for about 20 minutes.
- Pasteurization of jars in the oven:Place the tightly closed jars in an oven heated to 110 degrees Celsius. Pasteurize the jars for up to 20 minutes. The lids should be concaved when pressed with a finger.
- If your lids didn't seal even after pasteurization, turn the jars upside down and set them aside for at least 10 minutes. They should eventually seal. Tomato puree can be stored in a cool, dark place for the winter for a whole year or even longer.