[flatcap]

its 1st year growing and weve gone a bit mad with tomatoe plants  :oops: has any one got any recipes for bolognaise sauce and any other tomotoe recipes ,pity you cant make wine with it

[Ann]

Have you looked at the tomato recipes on here?

[Redwellies]

Im gonna have a go at bottling my toms this year, into passata jars.  Will Roast in the oven, push through a sieve into kilner or passata jars, so I will have plenty of toms as and when needed.  Havent done it before so cant give instructions.  But on top of that will make some ratatouille and freeze, plus chutneys of some kind.  Gonna have to find some  receipes

[Annie]

Hi Redwellies,I`m keen to bottle toms too,I usually roast then blitz throw basil at it and freeze but filled a 3rd of the freezer last year.I tried last year but must have done something wrong the contents started to ferment after a few days!Any tips on basic bottling would be appreciated since I`ve only tried jam before.

[Redwellies]

Hi Redwellies,I`m keen to bottle toms too,I usually roast then blitz throw basil at it and freeze but filled a 3rd of the freezer last year.I tried last year but must have done something wrong the contents started to ferment after a few days!Any tips on basic bottling would be appreciated since I`ve only tried jam before.

Its important to get the toms in a heated jar, bake the jars in the oven for about 10 mins and put toms in immediately and seal.  Should create a vacume, and kill off any bacteria.  Probably a good idea to peel and if you want the seeds removed to do so before roasting, so you can practically put straight into jars as it comes out the oven.  Hope this helps

[corndolly]

I used to bottle loads of Toms before we got freezers.

Here's how I used to do it

Pour boiling water over Toms and gently peel off skin.
Place Toms into very warm clean Kilner jars .Essential they are clean and very warm jars , put in oven for at least 15 mins to warm them, they should be handled with a dry cloth ,as they would hurt you otherwise so I would say best description is very warm jars .

Pack the toms and juices into jars leaving small gap of 1/2" then put on seals and screw down tightly.

Store in a dry place .

We favour freezing ratatouille using the many courgettes that come all at the same time.

Never tried the roasting and blitzing method I'll do some of that too this time.

There's always chutney too , at the end of the season .

[Trillium]

We do so much tomato sauce that we'd need a 3rd freezer just for the toms, so we bottle. Something about freezing toms really bothers my stomach, which is why we bottle. I'm also very sensitive to the seeds so we run the partly cooked toms through the Kitchen Aid veg puree attachment and it takes out the skins and seeds. The Squeezo strainer does the same job for a lot less cost and is manual. As for bottling, the best and safest results come from using a canning pressure cooker rather than regular canning pot. 35 minutes for the 1 L/qt jar does the trick beautifully. Be sure to use new snap lids or rings every time; frugality doesn't pay in this instance. We add all the veg needed for each recipe at canning time to best use our produce and the 35 minutes, regardless of what is added, is adequate considering the time to heat up the pot and cool it adds up as well. The pressure canner was a largish investment at the time, over 50 quid, probably double that now, but very worth it as we also use it to open can jams and the thicker pot doesn't wear out like cheaper canning units.    

[Annie]

I think I may need to invest in kilner jars to make sure the seal is tight.I roast and blitz because it can be used in all tom.sauce reciepes I use and thinned with veg.stock make quick delicious tom soup.After reading last years posts though I  will be getting a pasata machine though.
Trillium,what is a canning pot?

[GrannieAnnie]

This link is the passata recipe that one of our members who unfortunately died recently put on here for me.  It makes a lovely passata, but takes a lot of cooking.  This last winter I cooked it on our woodburner to save electric!!!

http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?t=921&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=passata&start=15

[Bernard]

The thing about Bolognese is that it doesn't use that much tomato. But it is certainly worth making and is easy. The basis is celery and carrot. Try this -

To feed 3 :
3 sticks celery chopped fine
1 onion ditto
1 large carrot ditto (or grated)

Fry gently in a little oil until soft
Add choice of minced meat (2 types traditional butfor me any will do - lamb, beef, pork or even soya)
Turn up heat & fry till no pink meat left.

Add:
 1 tin chopped tomatos or equivalent. (Pref. no skins)
1 tbl spoon soy sauce
a stock cube
choice of herbs (thyme, marjoram, basil, parsley)
Optional:
tspoon mild chilli
dash Worcester sauce
1/2 cup red wine
dash lemon juice

simmer gently. 3 hrs recommended.
I like to add some more wine near the end.
Thicken if necessary.

Serve with any pasta.

[flatcap]

thanks bernard,

                       il certainly have a go at the recipe, sounds much nicer than the jars i normally buy. thanks