How to Blanch, Blend and Freeze Paste Tomatoes for Raw Sauce

14 Sep

Yay! Home-grown paste tomatoes!

Don't they look lovely? My paste tomatoes (from seeds saved from Restoration Farm)

Don’t they look lovely? My paste tomatoes (from seeds saved from Restoration Farm)

Boo! Not enough time or energy to make paste!

 

Pull them out of the water as soon as they split

Pull them out of the water as soon as they split

Yay! Shortcut!

We’ve finally got some joy out of our backyard garden. Three raised beds (the fourth strawberry one doesn’t count because it is not expected to produce in the first year) and all we got was garlic, decent peas, decent lettuce, some kale, ONE zucchini…and a lot of failed everything else.

Live action! Padushi uses hi immersion blender to finish the job

Live action! Padushi uses his immersion blender to finish the job

Therefore I am inordinately happy about the fact that I have harvested a couple of pounds of paste tomatoes, with more greenies getting pink on the vine.

So…here’s the easy way to deal with the ones we’ve picked on a Thursday night, near collapse from the workweek and doing a million other things at the same time. Didn’t bother cooking them down. The raw fresh taste will still be there in the winter!

FREEZE! or use immediately....

FREEZE! or use immediately….

Raw Pureed Paste Tomatoes for Freezing

1) Get a big pot of water on the boil.

2) Get a bowl of ice water ready.

3) rinse the tomatoes (if you must).

4) drop tomatoes in the boiling water.

5) as they split, pluck them out and plunge (I love the word plunge) them into the ice water,

6) when they cool, pull the peels off.

7) chop, dice, or run through a mill or processor.

8) use or store or freeze.

DONE!

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11 Responses to “How to Blanch, Blend and Freeze Paste Tomatoes for Raw Sauce”

  1. Tammy September 16, 2013 at 11:28 pm #

    That looks simply perfect. It’s one of my favorite things!

  2. kathryningrid September 16, 2013 at 7:03 pm #

    Wish I had a surfeit of beautiful tomatoes to make me need this. I’m making do with the occasional fresh tomato puree just to satisfy my longing for something other than the available dull hothouse tomatoes ’round about here right now. Pretty pictures, Natalia!

    • Natalia at Hot, Cheap & Easy September 17, 2013 at 12:23 pm #

      Thank you Kathryn. I hope to haul in a few more and get another couple of quarts of puree….so thrilled to have something to show for the gardening this summer…

  3. Sharon Rawlette September 14, 2013 at 10:08 am #

    Excellent shortcut idea, as long as you have the freezer space!

    • Natalia at Hot, Cheap & Easy September 14, 2013 at 10:15 am #

      I don’t really…I have a small apartment size freezer….but I manage to encroach upon my parents’ freezer space in return for sharing!

      • Sharon Rawlette September 14, 2013 at 10:27 am #

        Now there’s an idea! Maybe I can even convince my parents to invest in a chest freezer. They’ve definitely got the space!

      • Natalia at Hot, Cheap & Easy September 14, 2013 at 10:34 am #

        lol! We never truly leave home, do we?

    • Natalia at Hot, Cheap & Easy September 14, 2013 at 10:15 am #

      And thanks so much for the visit!!!!

  4. Mad Dog September 14, 2013 at 9:52 am #

    I bet it tastes better than the shop bought stuff 😉

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