Canning

Homemade Tomato Sauce / Ketchup

/ sbaskitchen / 1 Comment

Back in March I was on a mission!  I needed to replenish my larder with all things tomato!  Fortunately I was able to source locally grown tomatoes, as my tomato crop, while consistent this year, was not abundant.  So with 50 kg of tomatoes in the kitchen, it was time to get to work. 

A few tomatoes ready and waiting…

Right at the top of the list was my homemade tomato sauce, also known as ketchup to many, but here in Australia, it’s tomato sauce.   This sauce is so popular, that I always need to ensure that I make enough not only for us, but for the greater family, and also friends.  In fact last year, our son, Christopher, Gary and I made the sauce, bottling it up in little bottles, as part of the bonbonniere for Chrisotpher and Olivia’s wedding.  It was such fun working with him and his dad to produce this little treat for their guests to take home. Continue reading →

Roasted Tomato Soup with Sour Cream and Pesto

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Looking for a simple soup to make for our Sunday evening meal, this was perfect.  I used home canned/preserved Roma tomatoes from the larder, homemade chicken stock from the freezer, homegrown garlic and thyme, and pantry staples – onion, olive oil, salt, pepper and sugar.  With homemade pesto and some sour cream in the fridge, I couldn’t help but gild the lily…

Roasted Tomato Soup with Sour Cream and Basil Pesto
Ingredients for roasted tomato soup

When writing up the recipe, I chose to change out the home canned/preserved tomatoes for what most have easy access to, that is store bought canned tomatoes.

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Roasted Tomato Soup with Sour Cream and Pesto
Created from a few simple ingredients on hand - from the larder, the freezer and the garden.
Author: sbaskitchen
Ingredients
  • 2 x 400g cans of Roma tomatoes
  • 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
  • 3 cloves of garlic sliced
  • sprig of thyme
  • 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt, pepper and sugar to season
  • 250 ml chicken stock
  • Sour cream or crème fraîche to finish
  • Basil pesto to finish
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 200˚C.

  2. Lightly grease a baking dish that is large enough to hold all ingredients.

  3. Place the tomatoes, onion, garlic and thyme into the baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and season lightly with salt, pepper and sugar.

  4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.
  5. Remove from the oven, add the chicken stock, and then return back to the oven for a further 20 minutes.
  6. When done, remove the sprig of thyme and carefully remove the leaves from the sprig adding them to the tomato mixture (it will be hot, but once removed cools quickly.

  7. Allow the tomato mixture to cool a little and then carefully pour it into a blender and process until smooth and creamy.

  8. Check seasoning, adjusting if necessary.

  9. Serve hot in individual bowls with a dollop each of sour cream and basil pesto.
Notes

If you do not have sour cream and/or basil pesto, a simple drizzle of extra virgin olive oil would also be the perfect finish for this delicious soup.

 

Until next time…

Bon appétit!

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Majestic Magenta

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Hmmm… I started with the title Pretty and Pink…, then thought maybe Radiant Red…!

But really I think Majestic Magenta describes the colour at the end…

A while ago we were in Melbourne for a few days to spend time with our son and his family.  This meant that I was able to visit my sister, Sonnie.  Sonnie is an amazing cook, and had just finished making a batch of her late husband’s grandmother’s pickled red cabbage, a jar of which, she had kindly set aside for us, I was so excited and very grateful.

Since then I’ve started receiving a regular delivery of fresh, mostly Gippsland grown, vegetables, and the fun thing with the vegie (Farm) box is that each week is different.  With produce that we don’t normally use, and being one who hates waste, I’ve just had to get a little creative.

What’s inside the Farm Box?
Fresh produce from the Farm Box Co.
Beautiful fresh red cabbage

After receiving red cabbage in my mystery veg box, I instantly knew what to do – I would make Grandma Martin’s Pickled Red Cabbage.  I often prepare braised red cabbage, but this time it was definitely going to be a batch of Grandma Martin’s Pickled Red Cabbage, and with my beautiful sister’s permission, I can now share the recipe with you. Continue reading →

Rosehips from the garden

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As I walked passed the glowing orange rose hips on the exquisite climbing rose, Mme Gregoire Staechlin, I knew that it was time to make Rosehip Jelly, a must for when I’m putting together both cheese and charcuterie boards.  But yet again, I could not find the recipe that I normally use, and could not remember which book it was in, so made it from memory…

Mme Gregoire Staechlin
Rosehips from the garden…
Mme Gregoire Staechlin

The day before yesterday I did a quick search on my computer (why didn’t I do that earlier?) and there it was, all written up nicely, including details of the source!  The recipe that I had been looking for is from the beautiful book, salt sugar smoke by Diana Henry.

Rosehip Jelly

Continue reading →