Canning Fall Harvest Tomato Soup (aka Spaghetti/Pizza Sauce)

 

Sorry it's been awhile since my last post.  My husband and I took our annual vacation to Rock Lake, which is remote and primitive.   Usually, by this time of year in Minnesota the tomatoes are really winding down.  We get real cool evenings, but are sometimes fortunate to get some remarkable September sunny days.  The tomatoes are not a big fan of the cool weather.  

This batch had some cracks from the cool weather, so I felt I wanted to try something new with them this year.  And, I am not bragging one bit, but this recipe is so versatile and so rich in flavor you can make soup (like I did here) spaghetti, pizza sauce, or even a fabulous dipping sauce for your next party that everyone will rave about and beg you for the recipe!  Yes, it is that good!

Plus, BONUS, when this is canned up, it will take you two shakes to serve it up and everyone will think you worked your fingers to the bone to create this dish; however, you decide to serve it up!  Check out below for my secrets to a successful soup/sauce:

Instead of adding the tomatoes to a boiling bath for a minute to ease the removal of the skins, I cut the cracks, dark spots, and tops off of them and put them on a cookie sheet.  I sprinkled salt and pepper on them and roasted the tomatoes in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

I removed the skins first and then put the tomatoes in a sieve to remove the seeds.  Now, not everyone does this, but I do because I think it makes removing the seeds easier.  The sieve doesn't seem to get all gummed up so quickly.  I used my Mom's cone shaped sieve.  

If you have the luck to own your Mom's or Grandmother's sieve, here is some great advice on how to use it on many things other than removing seeds from tomato sauce:  Grandma's Coned Shaped Sieve

Push the tomatoes through your sieve until it looks like this.  You will have a smooth rich sauce to make your soup.  From two large cookie sheets of roasted tomatoes, I got 11 cups of tomato sauce.

Put your tomato sauce in a heavy bottomed pan to simmer, then assemble your spice base as follows.

 

I used everything pictured above, EXCEPT no lemon juice!  My tomatoes had a lot of zesty tang already, even after roasting in the oven.  You might question the Hungarian paprika, but it is a secret and a must use!  

My Grandmother Paquin's family immigrated from Eastern Europe and brought a rich array of recipes from Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Prussia, which has infiltrated my interest in using "Bohemian" spices.  If you follow me long enough, you will find Hungarian paprika is a stable in my pantry.  

Here is some more information on the varieties of paprika which may give you ideas on how to add them to your cooking:  "What's the difference - Paprika"

The other secret of mine is to brown your spices in olive oil.  The olive oil gives a rich depth of flavor to your spices and smooths out the tangy tomatoes.  I can't imagine tomato sauce without olive oil.  Plus, it is a lot better for you than animal fats, like pork, which they used in the "Old Country".

I added

• 2 tablespoons olive oil in the pan and 
• browned the 1/2 cup chopped onion and 
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper first until the onions turned translucent. 
• I then added 5 minced cloves of garlic, 
• 1/2 cup finely chopped garden fresh basil, 
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped oregano, 
• 1 tablespoon thyme, and 
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (you can omit or lesson this ingredient if you don't care for heat).  

Scrape all the goodness out of your pan into your tomato sauce, add 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper, turn the heat up to medium low and stir in the "secrets":  2 tablespoons Hungarian Paprika and 1 tablespoon brown sugar.

I taste tested my batch when it was at a medium low simmer for about 20 minutes, which I stirred every few minutes - you DON'T want it to burn or scorch on the bottom of your pan.  It reminded me of a fabulous tomato soup for ADULTS ;-), so I promptly ladled up my quart jars and canned them in the pressure canner for 25 minutes.  If you do pints, can for 20 minutes.

From the 11 cups of tomato sauce, I got 2 1/2 quarts of the richest soup you will ever enjoy!  Now, if you want, you can continue to reduce until it is a thick sauce; just pressure can at the same time frames listed above.  I found I did not have to do that because if I want to turn the soup to sauce, I can do it at the time of cooking up to serve.  Now I have soup and sauce!

 

Three Cheese Ravioli Tomato Soup Recipe

• 1 quart jar Fall Harvest Tomato Soup (see recipe above)
• 1 bag fresh 3 Cheese Ravioli
• 1 cup 3 Italian Cheese Blend (finely shredded)
• Thick Crusty Italian Bread
• Olive Oil

Add olive oil to your sliced Italian bread and place in 350 degree oven to brown/warm.

Put your Fall Harvest Tomato Soup soup in a heavy bottom pan set to medium-high.

In a separate pan boil/cook the 3 Cheese Ravioli until the last three minutes, remove and add to boiling Fall Harvest Tomato Soup.  Cook the ravioli for another 3 minutes in the boiling soup; stirring frequently.

Ladle into bowls and top with the 3 Italian Cheese Blend.

Serve with Thick Crusty Italian Bread.  Makes four hearty servings! 

You will want to make EXTRA Italian bread for dipping.  This is a soup everyone will want to scrape clean with the bread!  I served my soup with a nice garden salad and it was a hearty meal!

Enjoy! 

Tomato's Best Friend - Basil!

This year it is still "Tomato" season, but I am sharing with you some advice o what to do with the tomato plant's best friend, Basil!  I always plant basil with my tomatoes.  Not only are they excellent together in sauces and stews, they help each other during the growing season.  The tomato plant offers a nice shade and the basil fends off pesky disease and attracts those coveted bugs to keep your tomato plants fertile and healthy!  Isn't that just like best friends to work towards the benefit of the other?

If you have not planted basil with your tomatoes, I urge you to keep um in mind for next year.

I use as much fresh basil as I can when it is fresh from the garden, but when winter comes, my basil will die off in this harsh Minnesota winter.  I can't bare to have much of anything go to waste and have tried a variety of methods to preserve basil.  Freezing is my favorite way to preserve that fresh basil flavor.  Here is how I do it:

Pick off the top lush branches, leaving the plant to grow and produce more.

Wash in cool water.

Clean them really well.  It is growing in the garden that harbors bugs!  You will want to wash all of them off before freezing.

Pull the leaves from the stem and discard with any browned or yellowed leaves.

Roughly chop.

I use my food processor.  Wipe the sides of the bowl when chopping to keep the chopped leaves uniform.

Measure when putting in your ice cube tray, then fill with water.  Tip!  Use filtered water or buy some spring water.  My favorite is Kandiyohi water.  Water does matter!  If you pour after in a glass and blind taste test it, you will notice a difference!  That flavor is added to your dish or mojitos!

Put in the freezer; once frozen place in a freezer bag marked with the amount in each cube.  Use for your next sauce or stew!

Stay tuned for one of my next posts with directions on making "basil" fresh mojitos!

TTYL!

Canning Salsa!

In keeping with the theme of "Tomato" season, I am sharing with you my salsa escapades!

Canning salsa has been an obsession of our family for as long as I can recall.  We all want to make the salsa our own.  This is my recipe which is taken from my Mom's recipe, my trips to Mexico, and a Canadian man's recipe who used lime juice in his salsa.

Over the years, I perfected my salsa by adding these "must have" features:

• not thick, not runny
• not too chunky (nothing worse watching someone try to put a huge glob of tomato on their chip!)
• hot & spicy (Biker Billy jalapenos for heat; cumin for some smoke!)
• cilantro (just like the pico de gallo I had in Mexico)
• lime juice (adding a tart twist of Mexican flavor brightens up this salsa) 
• not cider or white vinegar, but red wine vinegar (gives it a sweet smooth tangy flavor)

I remove as much of the seed and surrounding pulp from the tomato before finely chopping.  It is worth the effort to have a uniform consistency in your salsa!  If you want to see how to remove the seeds,go to my "Canning Tomatoes - Zucchina Pasta Sauce" post.

Everyone will tell you to wear gloves, be CAREFUL, when chopping up any hot pepper, and NEVER put your fingers in your eyes until after you have washed them.  Do that once and you will never forget this lesson.

But I am always looking for shortcuts, so I use my La Machine food processor to chop them up.  I roughly chop before putting in the food processor and use the spatula between chopping sessions to move the big pieces into the center until they are finely chopped.

• If you don't care for too much heat, remove the seeds before chopping them up or consider using a less hot pepper or even green pepper.

When all the hot peppers are chopped up, they measure about 3 cups. 

I remove the skins, chop into quarters and use the food processor for the onions too.  When the large onions were chopped up, I got 3 cups.

If you have cilantro in your garden, pull up a few bunches and finely chop them until you get 2 and 1/2 cups.  Interesting fact about cilantro:  some folks eat cilantro and think it taste like soap - something in their taste buds!  I feel sorry for them.  Also, cilantro binds with mercury, which is good for removing mercury from your body, and it is just good medicine.  Here is the link to that fact, if you want to know more:  Cilantro Flushes Mercury from Body - Fact Analysis

I finely mince my garlic to the size of a tomato seed, so I have some pieces of garlic on the chip!

Put the tomatoes, hot peppers, onions, cilantro, garlic, ground cumin, tomato paste, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper in a large thick pot, bring it to a boil, then turn down to medium low to let it simmer.  Stir frequently so the salsa doesn't stick and burn on the bottom of the pan.  (See recipe below for the ingredient measurements)

I simmer my salsa by sight so that it is thickened up but not like tomato paste thick.  I like a bit of juice in mine.  It looks like this picture.  It can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or more. 

When ready to jar up, add 3 tablespoons bottled lime juice to each pint jar, then seal up, and process in a pressure canner for 20 minutes at 10 lbs. pressure.  If you want to know how to pressure can, go to my "Canning Tomatoes - Zucchina Pasta Sauce" recipe.

Now, we couldn't wait to share our Bishop Salsa - Hot & Spicy with friends.  What is a great Mexican style salsa without a great sip of tequila?!  Make sure your tequila is 100% agave or you may end up with a headache.  

Another great tip is to serve your salsa with Whole Grain Milling Organic Tortilla Chips.  These tortilla chips are produced (grown and milled) right here in Minnesota - Welcome, Minnesota!  The corn is NOT the GMO variety and is organic!  The real bonus is it is hi lysine cornmeal, corn flour or whole corn - a highly nutritional corn with a complete protein.  Most corn you get nowadays is full of sugars and very little protein!  Plus the flavor will compliment this tart, hot, and spicy salsa!

Enjoy!