Preserved Tomato PurÉe Food

PRESERVED ROASTED TOMATO PURéE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Core and halve tomatoes and scoop out seeds and gel. Pile tomatoes into a large roasting pan, or on 2 sheet pans, cut side up. Do not add oil.
• Roast tomatoes for 2 hours. Thoroughly purée tomatoes using a blender or immersion blender. It should be smooth and velvety, with no pieces.
• Put a rack in a large stockpot or line pot with a folded kitchen towel, then fill pot with water and bring to a boil. Add pint jars and boil for 10 minutes. Jars may be left in warm water until ready to fill. Alternatively, sterilize jars by running them through a dishwasher cycle, keeping them warm in the machine.
• Place canning rings in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and add flat lids to soften their rubber gaskets. Rings and lids may be left in water until jars are filled.
• In a nonreactive pan, bring purée to a brisk boil for 5 minutes. Ladle hot tomato purée into warm jars leaving 1/2 inch head space, plus room to accommodate lemon juice. If using citric acid, fill to 1/2 inch head space.
• Into every pint jar, add one tablespoon lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid. If using salt, add 1/2 teaspoon to each pint jar.
• Wipe jar rims clean with a damp towel. Place lids on jars, screw on rings and lower jars upright into boiling water. Return to a full boil and process for 35 minutes. Transfer jars to a folded towel and let cool for 12 hours. Jars will ping as they seal. Once cool, test seals by removing rings and lifting jars by flat lids. If a lid releases, the seal has not formed. Unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within three days or reprocessed. Rings and jars may be reused, but a new flat lid must be used each time.

TOMATO PUREE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Starting with clean, dry tomatoes, halve smaller tomatoes and roughly chop larger tomatoes. The tomatoes are going to be pureed, so they don't need to be chopped evenly; cutting allows the tomatoes to release their liquid and cook down faster.
• Put all the tomatoes in a pot.
• Over medium-high heat, bring them to a boil. As the temperature in the pot increases, the tomatoes will release some of their liquid, providing their own liquid in which to cook. Reduce the heat to maintain a steady and active simmer (gentle small bubbles should pop up here and there). Cook, stirring frequently until the tomatoes start to break down, for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Let the mixture cool for at least 5 minutes. Run the tomato mixture through a food mill or whirl quickly in a blender or food processor.
• Strain the puree through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the seeds and bits of skin; this also makes for a smooth puree.
• If the tomato puree is thin and looks watery, you can return the puree to the pot, bring it to a boil, and then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook until it reduces to the texture you want, stirring often. Taste it along the way-you want a nice, bright tomato flavor along with a smooth and slightly thick texture.
• Transfer the puree to sealable container(s), leaving an inch of headroom, and chill or freeze until ready to use.
• Bring a large canning kettle full of water to a boil.
• Sterilize the pint jars by boiling them for 10 minutes.
• Allow the jars to air dry.
• Soften the lids by simmering them for a few minutes.
• Put 1/4 teaspoon citric acid or 1 tablespoon lemon juice in each pint jar.
• Return the puree to the stove and bring back to a simmer.
• Fill each jar with the hot tomato puree, leaving about 1/2-inch headspace at the top of each jar.
• Set the lids on the jars and secure them with the rings.
• Lower the jars into the canning kettle and boil for 40 minutes. The jars should be covered by at least 1-inch of water.
• Remove the jars and let cool.