What to do with Split Tomatoes
My friend Shirley didn’t stake her tomatoes this year so quite a few were either discoloured or split from the heavy rains. She recommended that I off any damaged parts.
I was watching Chef Michael make a roasted tomato sauce a few weeks back and felt compelled to find a way to use that idea. I found a recipe for pizza sauce, something Steve and I use often for our homemade pizza.
I laid the halves on a baking tray and topped with cracked black pepper. I roasted 6L on two baking sheets at 400F for almost an hour because there was a lot of liquid in these field tomatoes, but I’ve read 30 minutes at 350F is ideal for romas. I let them stand for a few minutes and lifted the tomatoes off and into a sieve to puree. I discarded the liquid, skins and seeds into my compost.
I then let it all cool and stand in the fridge over night to catch any additional liquid; it rises to the surface when the pulp settles to the bottom of the pan. A baster can be used to skim it off; however it wasn’t necessary because most of the liquid came off during cooking.
In the morning, I added 3 bay leaves and cooked half the sauce (4L) for 30 minutes, then added the rest (3.5L) and cooked for another half hour to thicken.
If you are feeling lazy, cook the whole thing for 1 hour in the crockpot on high to heat it up, then followed that by 1 hour with the lid off to thicken slightly. This way you don’t have to stir frequently but you should still stop by every 15 minutes and give it a quick stir to prevent sticking. It also frees up space on the stove if you are multi-tasking, which I was for the 2nd batch. I used only 3L of tomatoes but one whole garlic, cloves separated and peeled, and resting on top of the tomatoes to prevent sticking to the pan.
Discard bay leaves, if used. Fill hot pint size jars up to ½” headspace (or only ¼” if using 8oz jars).
Since this is a thick sauce, not a paste, you can process it using a Weighted Gauge Pressure Canner at 10 pounds pressure for 15 minutes. If you don’t have a pressure canner, or are using 8oz jars, add lemon juice (equivalent of 1 Tbs of lemon juice or 2 Tbs of vinegar per pint of sauce) to reduce the odds of spoilage and to retain color and flavor. Process for 35 minutes in a boiling water bath.
Since 8oz jars are too much sauce for a pizza, freeze the remainder once the jar is opened for the next time.
