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Post by shayneh2006 on Jan 21, 2015 15:13:51 GMT 10
Normally, when I do a Spaghetti Bolognese, I use a couple of cans of Peeled Tomatoes as a base for my sauce (along with all the bits and pieces) but, seeing as though we are up to our necks in quality home grown tomatoes right now, am looking for ideas to use em up.
Soooo, to try my hand at Home made Tomato based pasta sauce was the go, and, the results were stand out compared to my conventional methods..........
......... and now I am wishing I could grow Tomatoes all year long.
After doing some online research, it was mentioned more than once that if you could source a few different varieties (the more the better) would provide a better profiled sauce which it did, as I actually had 6 varieties in on this game 
Also, to use a combination of tomatoes, cooked at different levels to end up with a sauce that offered some fresh, zing taste to the palate (to get away from the canned Tomato taste).
Right, so I started off with 2kgs of mixed Grosse Lisse, Apollo, Beef Steak, Mortgage lifter, Bragger and Tickled Pink. I didn't have any sauce Tomatoes (AKA, Roma) but at the end of the day, it meant no difference to me.
All were skinned and seeds left in place (the seeds and their jelly sacs add so much to flavor, it seems such a waste to destroy them).
1/2 was processed along with a few cloves of Garlic and a sprig or two of fresh Italian Basil. 
Then added to a pot along with a few fresh Tomato suckers, to the boil, reduced the heat and simmered for a few hours until a thick sauce consistency was achieved. I called this my main base 
Meanwhile, the rest were roasted for 1 1/2 hours in a low Oven, chopped and set aside. 
Once I got what I needed in the viscosity of my main sauce, the Oven chopped was added, mixed in and the lot left to cool.
The net was divided in two, being half frozen and half used on the night.
The result's were amazing, and that of my child hood when I used to eat at my Italian Originated friends house. Their Mama always insisted fresh homemade was the best.
I have to agree  
Shayne
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Post by chrisg on Jan 21, 2015 17:12:56 GMT 10
 Oh to have the tomatoes at the moment A few years back some good friends of mine from Canada, now unfortunately gone back, were living here in WA and made friends with an Italian lady, a mama really, not at all young. They were taught how to make sauce from base like this and next dinner party we had served up a dish based on it. Hit me like a hammer - I knew how to do this, just gotten out of the habit It really is night and day to the canned stuff, but, no way I'm going to find suitable tomatoes here at the moment...  Cheers |
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Post by smokey on Jan 21, 2015 19:12:41 GMT 10
Yes, THIS is how to make tomato sauce.
IN two halves, one boiled and one roasted. two distinct flavours brought into one.
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Post by chrisg on Jan 21, 2015 19:40:33 GMT 10
Yeah, Texture as well, the sort of "traditional" tomato sauce that isn't really is all puree It's pragmatism, a sauce with roasted tomato chunks probably does not bottle too well... Actually it's probably deeper than that, in production food I guess the product gets piped around the place so chunks are not such a good thing (That's from someone who knows as much about commercial food production as he does about flower arranging ) Cheers Cheers |
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Post by shayneh2006 on Jan 27, 2015 13:59:12 GMT 10
Well, Sunday I pulled of the mother load of sauces.
Thinking it was gunna be a relaxing effort, ended becoming a huge chunk of work  .
13.5 KGS had to be blanched, skinned, chopped/processed. 
Then, same as before, just more of each 
The puree took about 4 hours to reduce, keeping a carefull eye on burning down low so, an occasional stir was not forgotton 
The chunky was added to the thin 
And I ended up yielding 9kgs of Sauce 
Which was bagged and frozen. Some @ 1kg for Past dishes, some @ 500gr for Pizza sauce.
Problem is, I have no more freezer room, and the Tomatoes just keep on coming  sooooo, I may have to walk the streets on recycle bin night, collecting enough jars for my next batch 
Shayne |
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Post by shayneh2006 on Jan 27, 2015 13:59:25 GMT 10
And ready for the freezer 
Shayne |
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Post by smokey on Jan 27, 2015 14:47:34 GMT 10
Crikey that's a lot of pasta sauce.
With the extra crops, What about passata in beer bottles ? Made shelf stable.
Something to last you deep into the year after all the frozen stuff is consumed.
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Post by shayneh2006 on Jan 27, 2015 16:34:21 GMT 10
With the extra crops, What about passata in beer bottles ? Made shelf stable. Gee Wizz Mick.
It just goes to show that sometimes it takes another mind to point out something carelessly overlooked
My Italian childhood friends used to botte in beer bottles
For god sake, I brew my own Beer, have hundreds if not thousands of beer bottles here and all the other gear that goes with it.
Time to smack my head against a brick wall 
Shayne
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Post by bill44 on Jan 27, 2015 18:17:00 GMT 10
I couldn't survive without Passata!
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Post by smokey on Jan 27, 2015 19:13:21 GMT 10
I only ever knew it from Italian parents of friends or later just friends you meet like The bloke up the street and so.
They all did it in 750 ml beer bottles and I only ever got it from them and they only called it tomato sauce.
But it was nothing like the tomato sauce I new,,, They cooked with it.
Then this word Passata pops up and is sold in the supermarkets maybe just a few years ago.
Never here of the word till recient but obviously some clever food company's taken that old beer bottle sauce and made it available.
Maybe I was just not in the know but I too put passata on the can't do without list as its just tomato and I can flavour it as I like,, or none at all and have it nice and bright over pasta or pizza base.
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Post by chrisg on Jan 27, 2015 19:21:46 GMT 10
I had to explain to my wife a few months back what it was - guess it's not part of the curriculum in Toorak Cheers |
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sooooo, I may have to walk the streets on recycle bin night, collecting enough jars for my next batch 
