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| These? I'm gonna be eating in January with some fresh Amish pasta from my CSA. |
Don't you hate peeling tomatoes? And then seeding them? It's a lot of messy, messy work. But it's worth it for homemade marinara, right? I thought so....until I received a harvest bounty from my father of several pounds of cherry tomatoes. I really wanted to make marinara, but how could I peel all those teeny, tiny tomatoes?
I thought, "Well, I have a 'puree' option on the blender." I could not believe how easy it was to make a tomato puree with whole tomatoes, a blender and a strainer. I just had to see if it worked with big tomatoes as well, and am happy to share the delicious results! Just half/quarter or roughly chop the larger ones and leave the babies whole, as shown in the photo above.
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| Puree till smooth in blender, then press through medium strainer. |
Fill the blender about 1/3 full and add a splash of water. Pulse until tomatoes are well-chopped and moving freely (add more water sparingly, if necessary). It can be helpful to stir or shake the blender between pulses. Once it's going, hit puree. And let it go and go -- I probably left it on for a good minute or two. Then set a medium or med/fine strainer in a bowl and pour. You can see my setup above.
Push the tomatoes through the sieve with a spatula. I think I ended up with a lot less tomato in my compost bin this way. But also, I didn't heat the stove (for this portion anyway). I didn't use ice cubes. I had minimal cleanup. Judging by what's left in the sieve, I think this marinara has more fiber, though it is lovely and smooth in texture.
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| Looks like the makings of a "marinara mix" seed drying operation, no? |
It took me about a half hour to garner a gallon of tomato puree this way. That's barely enough time to get your water boiling and the first batch of tomatoes peeled with the traditional method. Granted, I added some water, so I have to let it cook a bit longer, but that doesn't require my constant attention....just good smells and occasional stirring.
Before you start the whole puree process, go ahead and chop a few cloves of garlic (to taste -- I used a good half a head) and mince an onion. Let those cook slowly on LOW/MED heat while you handle the tomatoes. Just before I added my tomato puree, I tossed in 1/4 tsp of chipotle chili pepper powder. You could also add some red pepper flake as the onion/garlic cook. I also added 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and grated in some nutmeg.
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| The puree will be pinkish-red and foamy. |
Raise the heat a bit since the tomatoes are cool and, well, there's quite a large volume being added to the pot. I had about a gallon of tomato puree. What you want is a nice gentle simmer and you should stir regularly. If you come to stir after 15 minutes away and the surface is smooth and unbroken, then raise the heat a bit. If you come to stir after 15 minutes away and it's bubbling actively, then lower the heat (I might even pull it off the burner for a minute or two). I put the lid on after adding the tomatoes to help it come to a higher temperature more quickly. Then I removed the lid so it could reduce. I found that my "blender puree" seemed to have a pinkish foam on the top for an hour or two until it reduced.
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| Herbs outside today include basil, parsley, oregano and thyme. |
You can add whatever herbs you like and/or have on hand. I cut what you see above and ended up with about 2-3 Tbsp parsley, 3Tbsp or so of basil, about 1.5 Tbsp oregano and 1 Tbsp thyme. I also grated in a small carrot. After it simmered for an hour or so, I tasted, then added salt, pepper and a combination of agave nectar and white sugar. All seasonings are "to taste," but keep tasting as it reduces and add a bit here and there. Oh, and you really do need to add the sugar to counter the acidity of the tomatoes. If you want less refined sugar, you could add some more carrot or grated beet, but be sure to *taste* as you go and after another half-hour.
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| Halfway done. I added more basil toward the end. |
Stir it regularly. Once it's getting close to the consistency you want, hit it with an immersion blender. My goal is to wind up with something that coats a spoon nicely with small flecks of onion or herb, but I want a well-integrated sauce with a smooth consistency.
Before the immersion blender, my marinara almost seemed "separated," perhaps because of the extra fiber from the bits of skin that made it through. It was nice immediately after a stir, but heavy on the bottom after about 10-20 minutes. However, after using the immersion blender, it was a smooth texture, dotted with bits of tomato or onion or herb. Perfect!
Now, if you don't have an immersion blender, you can always blend it in batches. It really makes a big difference in the texture of the finished product, so if you're at all unsure, just do it After blending, if you want a "chunky" sauce, you'll need to add in some diced (skinned/seeded) tomatoes, but I didn't do that because I am okay if I never have to skin another tomato again.
