So if you have as many tomatoes as me (I love them but it’s ridiculous how many tomatoes one person can grow!!), you start to get creative with ways to use them. Sure you can slice them nice and thick on a piece of whole grain bread, slathered with fresh ricotta and drizzle with great olive oil and you have a dish fit for a king. You can put them in a salad or a sandwich but there are so many other things you can do with them. I love bruschetta but you can only eat so much of it in one sitting so why not preserve it for another time? I’ve never done this with this mixture but I’m willing to try (just 4 jars)…I’ll let you know how it turns out. But, why not double the batch and cook up some ready-to-use pizza sauce to use in the dead of winter? You will be sooo happy you did!
Ingredients (roughly):
8-10 c diced tomatoes
2-3 tbsp chopped garlic
2 tbsp chopped parsley
freshly ground pepper and salt, to taste
a good glug of olive oil (about 1/4-1/3 c)
Throw it in a bowl; mix and put them in jars to keep in the freezer (yes you can freeze mason jars!!)
Or, freeze in ziploc bags for use another time on pizza, in a soup, on pasta, or in a stew (remember, all the flavours for a good base are in here so it works in all sorts of places!)
chopped tomatoes in a bowl with a spoonful of parsley…you can also add basil if you like
Usually once a week, I chop a bunch of garlic (I’m lazy…I put it in the food processor!) and keep it in a glass container under oil in the fridge
Even though I have a garden, I have a basket of herbs outside my kitchen (my garden is a bit far from my kitchen so it’s easier to have this for last minute cooking!
My grandmother’s pepper mill that I inherited when she died…I love it because there is no substitute for freshly ground pepper – especially in a simple dish like this!
When my basil started taking off, I was trying to find new ways to keep it fresh and green. I thought of trying to preserve it under salt. Well, it didn’t stay perfectly green, but it made the most amazing flavoured salt…who knew? I used it here but you can use regular salt.
My dad’s homemade olive oil…it’s awesome…just like him!
This is a bowl of the tomatoes cooked for about half an hour until the tomatoes start to break down…so fresh!