Hello everyone..
I've been absent for a very long time..
This is mostly because I am in transition to whole food plant based diet / nutritarian diet. It requires to unlearn what you already know and re-learn things again with a different approach.. Well.. did I make sense? I hope so
I felt kind of stuck and lost in this new world. I didn't know what and how to cook anymore. I guess I am starting to get a grasp of things now, little by little..
Today I would like to share my latest version to Tomato Conserve. I once shared with you guys the conserve recipe from my Italian Thermomix cookbook. In past years I've made several changes, added more veggies but more importantly I stopped draining tomatoes. I use them entirely including juice, peel, seeds and all. I was never a fan of this draining business, it always felt like a waste..
Anyway...
Here is the recipe...
Oh.. Before I forget...
IMPORTANT NOTEIf you are new to homemade conserve process, please read a more detailed article/post on sterilization and pasteurization methods. In the recipe I explain how I do it, nevertheless, I am not an expert. Food safety is an important and a very sensitive issue so please get informed better if you are not already.
Ingredients:1100 g ripe tomatoes
100 g red bell pepper
70 g onion
70 g carrot
50 g celery stick
1 clove of garlic
5 basil leaves
A few sprigs of parsley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano or thyme
Preparation: - Wash all the vegetables and cut them into mid sized pieces.
- Put all the ingredients in TM Bowl. Mix for 1 minute increasing the speed gradually from 1 to 10. (If you think that TM Bowl gets too full you can do this stage in two steps. First put half of the ingredients into TM Bowl and chop for 10 seconds on Speed 5. Second, add the remaining half and mix for 1 minute increasing the speed gradually to 10).
- Close the lid of TM Bowl. Place Steaming Basket on the top. Place a piece of paper towel over it. Cook for 35 minutes at Varoma Temperature on Speed 3 - 4. (This way we let water boil away avoiding splashes)
- Transfer tomato sauce into the sterilized jars. (There are several ways to sterilize. I am using microwave method. I rinse the jars and then microwave them for 2 minutes).
- Close the lids. Place a tea towel in a large pot. Put in the jars and wrap the towel on the top. Fill with water to cover the jars completely. Bring it to boil, and then pasteurize by boiling them for 20 minutes on low heat..
- Turn off the heat. Let them cool inside the pot. (I use lids like those of Quattro Stagioni jars to be sure if the pasteurization worked. If the center of the lid is lowered it means that pasteurization worked.)
Store in a cool dry place.
Photos:
http://thermomixtarifdefterim.blogspot.it/2016/09/rich-tomato-conserve.html