I was given a ton of tomatoes. Since I don't can or anything, I was thinking of making homemade spaghetti sauce to use them up, (since we have already made a lot of salsa). Every recipe I look up calls for canned tomatoes... how do I do it with fresh tomatoes? I don't have a food processor either.
Yep Dana is right on the money with her advice. I do it the same way, I even freeze tomatoes ones they are peeled and seeded.
Drop tomatoes into large pot of boiling water until the skins crack (about a minute - you don't really need to cut the x in them, they will split anyway). Scoop out of boiling water and drop into ice water until you can handle them. Peel off the skin (should be easy), squeeze out the seeds and most of the liquid (otherwise it takes forever to reduce your sauce). Then use as you would canned tomatoes. A food mill is a great tool. It will separate out the skins and seed with minimal to no effort. I have a cheap plastic one and it works fine (although the stainless ones are way prettier).
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=food+m...
What Elisa said about roasting them first is great - especially if you have winter, supermarket or hot house tomatoes. Roast until they start looking a bit wrinkled.
LOL... That's because fresh tomatoes cost a mint.
Chop.
Add other ingredients
Cook for a rather long time
Which sounds simple, because it is.
If you want a puréed sauce, either put them in a blender halfway through OR immerse whole and unchppped into boiling water. Cook for a minute or 3. Plung into cold water and peel off the skin. THEN chop and cook for a rather long time. Similarly, you can deseed by squeezing lightly after the parboil.
Do try the chopped method, though. One of my favorite recipes is
Olive oil
Garlic
Pasta herbs & red pepper flakes
Tomatoes
Fresh basil
Dry White wine
Optional: feta cheese
Top w fresh basil & ParmRegg
Served over orochiette/penne/linguine/etc. w/ seared shrimp. Works great as a bake or 1 pot. I like bitter greens as a side (mustard, kale, chard, etc.)
Peel and lightly boil the tomatoes, either whole or sliced then use in recipe as you would canned.
Dana K is right about boiling them. After you do that just mashed em up, no food processor needed.
When I make sauce I throw the tomatoes into a pot with lots of onion, pressed garlic, fresh basil (dried works great too), oregano, salt, and a little sugar. That's it! I used to make meatballs but we stopped eating beef some time ago.
Its great mixed in with diced up chicken breasts and bow-tie pasta or poured over breaded eggplant with lots of mozzarella cheese!
Yum! now I am hungry....
Let us know how it comes out!
Do you have a potato masher?
Blanche the tomatoes first. Then put them in a pot. As they cook down they will be very soft. you can mush alot of them with your spoon. I like chunky sauce so I don't use a food processor (if you have a blender though that works too) I add a bunch of sauteed veggies (zuchini, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, and garlic) then a couple leaves of basil, then tomatoe paste to thicken it.
Blanche them, peel them, then food processor.
Mrs. Wages has a seasoning mix for canning that is already prepared for a large amount of tomatoes. In the canning aisle at your grocer.
(I know you're not canning, but the sauce is good and you don't have to can after it's made)
Put the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute and then put them into cold or ice water. Peel the skin off and take out the seeds then puree them in a blender. You can also add chunks of tomatoes to your sauce.
This is my favorite recipe! It's super easy and tasty! I make batches and freeze it in baggies. Do you have a blender?
http://rhythmofthehome.com/2011/08/tomato-frenzy-roasted-...
Hi! here's what you're supposed to do...Put up a pot of water. Make X's through the skin on the bottom of your tomatoes. When the water is boiling drop them in for 30 seconds or so and then into cold water. The skins will peel off easily. Smoosh and use like canned. You do the hot part the kids do the rest!
Now, lazy me cuts them up into chunks and throws them in the blender (I don't have a food processor either). It obliterates the skin and no one has ever said anything so I assume no one has ever noticed. The only thing to watch out for is it adds a lot of air and you need to watch as it heats up.
If you are looking for something different, slice and roast the tomatoes. Make a veggie lasagna, layer them with polenta and cheese, make grilled cheese to die for, Oi, gotta go, the boy just declared his starvedness!!! Good luck---
You use them the same way you would canned, except you let them cook a little longer due to a little more liquid.
I make sauce with fresh tomatoes all the time!
Good luck!
