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The Hunter & Gatherer Blog
Bottling Tomato Sauce
In February, the tomatoes on the vines across Victoria ripen and drop. For anyone with excess fruit I recommended this recipe which preserves them, and leaves you with a beautiful homemade passata to use all year round. The following recipe makes between 10 and 12 litres of sauce.
10 kg very ripe Roma tomatos
sea salt
12–16 basil leaves
Wash the tomatoes, then cut them in half and remove the core. Place the tomatoes in a large pot, cover with water and boil for about 2 hours.
Pass the cooked tomatoes through a sauce machine (or mouli), which will separate the skin and the flesh. Process the skin several times to extract as much flesh as possible.
Season the tomatoes with salt, and then put them into bottles with a basil leaf in each, leaving a small gap at the top. One-litre sterilised bottles or jars are good to use, though longneck beer bottles (750 ml) also work well.
Seal the bottles and arrange them in a large pot with pieces of cardboard between them to prevent them breaking. Add enough water so that it clears the top of the bottles by 3 cm.
Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Leave simmering for 24 hours, topping up the water as needed.
The tomato sauce can be stored in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year.
Cheers,
Riccardo
