While they're slowed down for a while, through mid-week last week the tomatoes were rolling into the kitchen by the boxcar load -- or so it seemed: over 100 lbs in about a week! After drying some first (see my article here on that project), I found two "lazy" ways to store large quantities away for future use, both fast and easy methods.
First, there was making "lazy" sauce in the slow cooker (I use a 6-quart model like this one -- the photo above is at the start of this process this morning at around 8:30 am). And I do mean lazy: include the seeds and the peel, rough chop big fruit or halve cherry toms, toss in some herbs whole (our own basil, parsley and garlic in today's batch, at right), cover, and set on high for an hour or two. Then stir, and replace the lid, but rotated a bit so it doesn't close to allow some of the moisture to cook off for a couple more hours on high. Once the sauce is reduced and thickened, I turn off the cooker. Once cooled, I slash through it with the immersion blender until it's smoother, but a little chunky. I turned out four cups of cooked sauce from the batch seen at top just before cooking began (photo, below right). Now, let's not get fussy about the skins and the seeds still being in there. First, they contain major portions of the nutrition of the tomato. Whoever decided they MUST be removed was part of the great international anti-nutrition, overly-processed, non-whole food conspiracy. Second, this is a lazy method, and fussing with removing peels and seeds is a no-no.
The second "lazy" method is the most lazy of them all. It's one I've never used before this year, but that I had read about widely online starting last winter. Core large tomatoes, and use them either whole or cut into chunks. Cherry tomatoes can be used whole or halved. Pop them into freezer bags. Freeze. Use as needed for cooking. Yes, you read that right: freeze without cooking or any other processing. Just take them out of the freezer and cook with them as if they were fresh. This I have to try! I've frozen a couple of gallons cut in large chunks. After cutting and bagging, I've frozen the bags flat so that the pieces don't form one big frozen chunk with the hope that I can remove just the amount I want to use each time. This does take up the most room of all the methods because they contain 100% of their natural moisture, But who can beat this for "I'm in too much of a hurry, and I have some tomatoes I MUST put up RIGHT NOW"?
The tomato harvest will ramp up again in about a week, and again we will be harvesting 100 lbs a week -- perhaps even more before the season is through. But now with three good methods to preserve them, I'm ready!
