30 July 2011

Little and large


The one on the right is a Riesentraube tomato, weighing in at a little under one ounce, or 20 grammes. The other is an unidentified variety I was given by a friend, known in our house as 'Cyril's Jumbo'. It weighed two pounds (900g). There's something a little intimidating about such a large tomato: Child#2 said "I'm not eating that one." But they're dense, meaty fruit, ideal for sauce-making, which is what's happening to this one right now.

Once or twice a week in the summer I cut a big batch of tomatoes into chunks, whizz them in the food processor until they're liquidised and then simmer them for two hours or so, until the sauce is about half the volume it was originally. You can add herbs and garlic, too, but generally I keep it simple and add other flavours at the point of using the sauce. Once it's at a good, thick consistency I let the sauce cool down, pour it into zip-lock bags and store them in the freezer for use outside of fresh-tomato-season in pasta sauces or on pizza. It would seem very strange these days to actually buy tomatoes, fresh or canned. This is one household staple where we seem to have achieved self-sufficiency!

1 comment:

Linda said...

Looks and SOUNDS delicious!! I am having some serious 'Tomato Envy!'