Can anybody post good recipes for spaghetti sauce. I have an abundance of tomatoes from the garden, but I don't want to can them. Can I make the sauce and freeze it in freezer bags? I also have tons of cherry tomatoes. Thanks a bunch!
Kim
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
Yes, you can make spaghetti sauce and freeze it. It works very well. You can also use this method to make other tomato products, including juice. First, you will want to peel the tomatoes. I hate to throw away the nutrition in peels, but tomato skin in sauce just gets stuck between teeth. Drop the tomatoes into boiling water just until the skins split. Then, quickly remove them, and cool them. The skin will pull off easily. You may also wish to remove the seeds; slit open and scoop the seeds out with your fingers. You can save those skins (and seeds) to flavor a broth, and then compost them.
Now, mash or blend or puree the pulp. Now's your chance to have tomato sauce that is just as chunky or smooth as you prefer. Pour your sauce into a pot or pan of suitable size, simmer, and add spices and herbs to your taste. You might add a little salt or a bit of sugar. Sometimes it helps to add a bit of vinegar or lemon juice, especially if you are making tomato juice.
Some herbs and spices that go well with tomatoes are: onion, garlic, oregano, sage, marjoram, thyme, parsley, cilantro, celery, and celery seed. If you want to experiment a bit more, you could try a bit of onion and garlic, some lemon juice, and balance with a hint of cinnamon or nutmeg. Taste as you go, using the two-spoon method.
The two-spoon method of tasting: use one spoon for getting some of the food from the cooking vessel, and pour that into the spoon that you taste from. I know that the French chefs on TV don't go to that much bother, but saliva does contain enzymes that break down food, and cooking kills germs, but not all enzymes. Always be careful never to get saliva into food that will be stored!
Once you get the flavor you desire, and the mixture is heated all through, you have a finished product you can freeze, if you don't eat it all up right away!
Rose B, hardcore pennypincher
Extra tomatoes can simply be put through a food processor or a blender and frozen for later use. I use the puree for any tomatoes needed in cooking (soups, sauces, etc.) as well as for raw salsa all year round.
I just heat my extra tomatoes and run them through the food mill and either cook down thicker and freeze or just freeze as is. Works great for me.
Linda
In response to the reader with extra tomatoes, just cut them up coarsely and put them in freezer bags or containers. When you want to use them for recipes just toss them into any recipe you are cooking. Freeze them in amounts that you would use later. You might need to fish out a few floating skins, or just leave them if you want extra fiber. It is easy and tastes soooooo good in the middle of the winter.
Kim
Yes, you can freeze tomatoes (or spaghetti sauce) in freezer bags. You can either blanch the tomatoes first or put them in a blender and chopping them up a little before putting them in freezer bags. To blanch them you need to remove the skins first by putting them in warm water. The skins will slide right off. Then put them in a pot and let them come to a gentle boil. I did it last year and had fresh tomatoes for a number of things all winter long. And the freezer bags stack up nicely in your freezer so they won't take up too much room.
Stephanie
YES! I've cooked up batches of tomato sauce and frozen them quite successfully. I followed no recipe though, just cooked down the tomatoes after peeling and seeding and putting through a tomato press (not necessary if you like a chunky sauce). Cook and cook adding some tomato paste to thicken if needed, add some chopped onion, peppers, spices and herbs as you see fit.
Once cool I'd use plastic containers to freeze the sauce in. I've used freezer bags to freeze corn in and containers for sauce. But that's just my preference, use what works best for you!
Lisa
All you have to do is put the tomatoes in a pot and add a small amount of water, Simmer the mixture until the tomatoes cook down to a sauce. You can then can or freeze the tomato sauce in freezer bags or containers and take it out and make whatever you want with them later.
Amy - Charlotte, NC
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
