Summer recipes using canned tomato sauce

I overshot last year and apparently canned about five or six pints too many of my homemade basil/garlic tomato sauce (well, I'm pretty close, anyway)

Almost all of the recipes I use canned tomato sauce for are too hearty for 90+ degree weather: pasta with sausages, lasagna, stuffed peppers, etc. I was wondering if the infinite wisdom of this forum had some warm-weather uses for the last few jars of sauce.

One idea I'm planning to try: summer squash ribbons dressed as pasta; I might even be able to make this into a cold dish if I add the right amount of olive oil.

Discuss.

* Toss with chunks of grilled eggplant, zucchini, onion, etc. for a nice rattatouille-ish side dish.
* Layer some goat cheese over the top in a pie dish, bake until browned on top and serve with crusty bread--a lovely light app.
* Kind of a riff on your zucchini pasta idea but i like veg lasagna in the summer--using eggplant and zucchini for the noodles. I usually use a lighter hand with the cheese (or even substitute goat, parm, etc. for the mozzarella).
* Chilled tomato bisque or base for gazpacho

Sautee chopped bacon, onions and zucchini chunks (drain if needed), add some sauce, chucks of asiago cheese, and fresh basil. Easy side dish and can be easily adapted. Sometimes, I use olive oil to soften garlic and onions, and add previously cooked bacon to make it lighter.

Hi,

You don't have to finish eating those jars before the summer is up. If it is too hot, why not eat them later this year when it is cool? You can a few last jars for this year, if you feel you need to consume stuff earlier than later.

Regards,

makes a nice party app.

tomato frito with fresh chevre

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

You don't have to finish eating those jars before the summer is up. If it is too hot, why not eat them later this year when it is cool? You can a few last jars for this year, if you feel you need to consume stuff earlier than later.

Regards,

I could, and if I had more than just a few I would, but I'd rather not have a section of "eat first" jars and then a section of the new; I'd rather do all new cans when I start canning. I realized that I should have done a few cans of plain tomatoes, which will be my strategy for next year.

I'm in the same position, though my wife and I made a lot of frozen (rather than canned) sauce.

BTW - thanks, everyone for the ideas; they're great! Keep 'em comin!

Michelle,

Two things come to mind. 1. You could use the tomato sauce as a base for tortilla soup, thinning it down with chicken stock (pass through a food mill for great texture) + the usual cumin, cilantro, onion, garlic, chili powder, (I like epazote), etc...and top with the usual garni...avocado, shredded chicken, shredded cheddar and fried tortilla strips. 2. Saute chopped raw bacon, onion, okra, and incorporate into that the tomato sauce for a Southern/Creole inspired okra side dish.

Mhays wrote:I overshot last year and apparently canned about five or six pints too many of my homemade basil/garlic tomato sauce

Michelle,

A hotter and wetter summer than usual threatens to inundate me with tomatoes this year. Would you mind sharing your sauce recipe?

Thanks.

Bill/SFNM

Bill, my sauce is stolen from the Ball canning website and is dead-on simple, which is why I like it.

Since it's a canning recipe, the only thing I tinker with are the actual tomatoes: if you refer to the Romance of Canning thread, I don't simply puree the tomatoes, I seed and food-mill some parts and then leave some parts relatively whole - but allow them to break down during cooking. I think it makes for a better texture. I hate losing the membrane that surrounds the seeds: I think it has terrific flavor, although it takes forever to boil the water off it.

Sauce for grilled pizza?

I'm a huge fan of Middle Eastern/Greek style long cooked green beans in tomato sauce. Go to Semeramis for inspiration. Mix the veg and you have briami. Remember these dishes go fine at room temp.

Mhays wrote:Bill, my sauce is stolen from the Ball canning website and is dead-on simple, which is why I like it.

Since it's a canning recipe, the only thing I tinker with are the actual tomatoes: if you refer to the Romance of Canning thread, I don't simply puree the tomatoes, I seed and food-mill some parts and then leave some parts relatively whole - but allow them to break down during cooking. I think it makes for a better texture. I hate losing the membrane that surrounds the seeds: I think it has terrific flavor, although it takes forever to boil the water off it.

I had assumed the you needed a pressure canner for tomato sauce. Good to know that I was wrong.

Darren72 wrote:

Mhays wrote:Bill, my sauce is stolen from the Ball canning website and is dead-on simple, which is why I like it.

Since it's a canning recipe, the only thing I tinker with are the actual tomatoes: if you refer to the Romance of Canning thread, I don't simply puree the tomatoes, I seed and food-mill some parts and then leave some parts relatively whole - but allow them to break down during cooking. I think it makes for a better texture. I hate losing the membrane that surrounds the seeds: I think it has terrific flavor, although it takes forever to boil the water off it.

I had assumed the you needed a pressure canner for tomato sauce. Good to know that I was wrong.

You need to add some type of acid, lemon juice or vinegar if you are canning tomatoes without a pressure canner (unless you are *really* sure of your tomato's acidity).

Vital Information wrote:You need to add some type of acid, lemon juice or vinegar if you are canning tomatoes without a pressure canner (unless you are *really* sure of your tomato's acidity).

You always need to add acid to tomatoes whether you process them by pressure or waterbath canning methods.

Regards,

Depending on whether you think the basil and garlic would play well with the additional spices, you could try home-made ketchup. I've used the recipe from David Page and Barbara Shin's Cooking from Home to excellent effect.

Jen

Here is the Page-Shin recipe from Fine Cooking (warning, paid content):
http://www.finecooking.com/articles/zes ... aspx?ac=fp