As I mentioned last post, I have been doing a lot of cooking and canning. Here are the results of my homemakerly adventures. It all started with beautiful tomatoes at the greenmarket. It seemed silly to let summer’s largesse pass me by without putting some of it away for future use. So I picked up 5 lbs. of tomatoes and LOTS of garlic and made some tomato sauce. This went quite well.
I had also seen some tomatillos in the market, and for some reason passed them by. The next day it dawned on my that I should make my own tomatillo salsa. I used it after all for enchilladas. So I eagerly awaited the next greenmarket – except that the vendor wasn’t there on Thursday! So I waited with baited breath for Sunday’s market, and lo! he was there. So, 2 lbs. of tomatillos, some garlic, onions and lots of cilantro later, I had salsa. Slightly more gelatinous than I had intended, but still tasty.
After two successes, I decided to add Puttanesca sauce to my repertoire of canned goods. This was a little more challenging, as I had to decide whether or not to use the anchovies that most recipes called for, and how many olives. I cobbled a recipe together, (using Thai fish sauce instead of anchovies) and away we went. It too worked! So many kitchen successes in a week – what a thrill.
Below are the recipes I ended up using (in some cases altered for future use based on my results). You can also see the full bounty of my canning adventures (minus what we’ve already consumed).
Recipes:
Basic Tomato Sauce – makes 2 quarts
Ingredients:
- 1/4 c. olive oil
- 3/4 c. garlic cloves (to be pressed or finely chopped)
- 4 c. diced onions
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 c. tomato paste (less if using double concentrated paste)
- 1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/2 c. red wine
- 2 1/2 tbs. balsamic vinegar
- 4 1/2 lb. tomatoes (plum or otherwise as you wish, theoretically peeled, but I didn’t bother, I like the extra texture)
- 1/4 tsp. sugar
- 1/2 – 3/4 c. chopped fresh basil
- ground black pepper
- red pepper flakes
Instructions:
1. Prep garlic to be pressed, chop onions, wash tomatoes, get wine and vinegar out. Rinse and dry basil.
2. Heat oil in a dutch oven or large soup pot over medium heat. Once hot enough to sizzle well, add garlic and cook, watching constantly and stirring frequently, until fragrant and just beginning to color, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add onions and salt, stir to coat, cover and cook, stirring often and adjusting heat as necessary to prevent burning, until soft and turning golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Chop tomatoes while onions cook.
4. Add red pepper flakes to desired heat, stir in tomato paste and oregano and cook, stirring often, until the tomato paste is beginning to brown on the bottom of the pan, 2 to 4 minutes.
5. Pour in wine and vinegar; bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits with a spoon. Cook until reduced slightly, about 2 minutes.
6. Add the tomatoes and any juice; return to a simmer, stirring often. Add sugar and stir. Reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are mostly broken down, about 25 minutes.
7. Remove from the heat; stir in basil and pepper. Blend with stick blender to desired consistency.
Note: This recipe is based on, and mostly true to, one found in the August/September 2006 issue of Eating Well magazine. I found this be a very satisfactory sauce, though you have to blend very well if you don’t like a chunky sauce (which I do).
Cooked Tomatillo Salsa – makes 5 to 6 cups
Ingredients:
- 1 tbs. oil
- 10 cloves of garlic, pressed
- 4 jalapenos, diced
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 roasted poblano pepper, skinned and diced
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. toasted, ground cumin
- 2 lbs. tomatillos, husked, washed and roughly chopped
- 1/2 c. chopped cilantro
- 1 lime, juiced
- broth to change consistency
Instructions:
1. Heat oil over medium-high heat until garlic will sizzle well. Add garlic and jalapeno, stir for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add onion and poblano, stir, then salt and cumin. Cook stirring until slightly soft, 3-5 minutes.
2. Add tomatillos and cook until they break down, 10 to 20 minutes.
3. Remove from heat, add cilantro and blend with stick blender.
4. Add lime juice and stir. If consistency is too thick, add broth to desired liquidity. (If canning, return to heat until just bubbling, the put into jars.)
Note: This recipe came from a mix of several online recipes and my own thoughts. Most tomatillo salsa recipes are not cooked this long – I only did so because I wanted to can it. If you’re not intending to store it, try roasting the tomatillos and onions, then blending all ingredients and serving fresh.
Puttanesca Sauce – makes 5 cups
Ingredients:
- 2 tbs. olive oil
- 1/2 c. garlic cloves (to be pressed or finely chopped)
- 2 c. diced onions
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tbs. tomato paste (less if using double concentrated paste)
- 3/4 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/2 c. pitted chopped black and green olives
- 2 tbs. drained/rinsed capers
- 2 tsp. fish sauce (in place of 2 oz. anchovy fillets)
- 2 1/2 lb. tomatoes (plum or otherwise as you wish, theoretically peeled, but I didn’t bother, I like the extra texture)
- ground black pepper
- red pepper flakes (lots)
Instructions:
1. Prep garlic to be pressed, chop onions and wash and chop tomatoes.
2. Heat oil in a dutch oven or large soup pot over medium heat. Once hot enough to sizzle well, add garlic and cook, watching constantly and stirring frequently, until fragrant and just beginning to color, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add onions and salt, stir to coat, cover and cook, stirring often and adjusting heat as necessary to prevent burning, until soft and turning golden, 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Add red pepper flakes to desired heat, stir in tomato paste and oregano and cook, stirring often, until the tomato paste is beginning to brown on the bottom of the pan, 2 to 4 minutes.
5. Add olives, capers and fish sauce, cook stirring for 2 minutes.
6. Add the tomatoes and any juice; return to a simmer, stirring often. Reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are mostly broken down, about 25 minutes.
7. Remove from the heat; add pepper to desired flavor. Blend with stick blender to desired consistency.
Note: I cobbled this recipe together from several on-line sources, the basic tomato sauce and my own intuition and taste. It tasted good when I canned it, but I haven’t tried it on pasta yet. We’ll see how that goes.