More Tomatoes for Roasted Tomato Sauce, Ketchup and Herb Butters

 to bottle up and preserve for the Pantry shelf have landed in my basket.  However, I need fresh herbs to be able to make more of the roasted Tomato sauce for my Italian style home cooked food.  When I made the first batch of Tomato Sauce, I did not have access to a Tomato press. I have invested in one from Seeds of Italy to make my life a little easier in the longer term.  I have opted for the larger sized press as this will be an ongoing exercise in my home as and when I can get hold of Tomatoes. Therefore the next batch which is calling to me, will be made with the aid of the press.

I need fresh Thyme, Basil and Rosemary.  I will have a supply left over as I did when I made the previous batch.  However, this time around, I will be making them into herb butters to be stored in the freezer therefore ensuring that I have a taste of fresh herb available if I have not been able to get to the shop.

Since I started writing this post, I have got a wriggle on and roasted more tomatoes with, fresh Basil, Rosemary, Thyme, Garlic, onion or shallot, pepper, a little sugar, a pinch of salt, olive oil (just a drizzle over the tomatoes and herbs) and used my Tomato Press which is excellent and makes light work of the processing.

For my efforts, I have another four jars of Tomato sauce for the Pantry shelf. These have been hot water bathed to ensure they will keep well on the Pantry shelf. That is 15 jars of Roasted Tomato Sauce for the Pantry shelf and to be used in my everyday cooking. Life is really good when this happens.

As I mentioned, I have used the press and it made life a lot easier overall. Plus I was able to put the peels back into the press for a few times to get all that precious liquid out of them. The bonus is that I have a dehydrator in my Ninja Foodi which I had never used. So I decanted the peelings from the press into the bottom of the Ninja and used that. In just over an hour the peels were dry. They were then blitzed up in my Magimix food processor and pulsed down into a reasonable powder for adding flavouring to different foods such as soups, gravies, casseroles. This is the first time I have been able to do this and will not be the last. This has pleased my inner ethos of "Waste Not, Want Not"! I am deeply satisfied with something so simple.

There were of course fresh herbs left over which I turned into the following:

• Basil Butter
• Thyme Butter
• Garlic Butter
• Rosemary Butter
• Mixed Herb Butter
• Mint Butter

All have been frozen in ice cube trays ready to be used in cooking when needed.  The best bit ready access to items when you just fancy a little bit of this or that.  It is the little things that really lift a dish! Photos will have to follow later on.

And me, I am far happier now that I have had a little play in my kitchen on the Preserving front.  I am having to try and slot things in here and there as I go along as things are a bit manic at the moment.  Although saying that, over the past four to five weeks I have been pottering away with little bits where I can.  It soon builds up, but there is a lot more work planned as I have a stack of jars to use up.

Right off to get on with things, (just not necessarily what I would like to be doing).

Have a good day, keep warm, but most of all with these dreadful winds and storms, please keep safe wherever you are.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

x