I’m lucky enough to live next door to the most prolific organic tomato gardener in all of Colorado. My geographic good fortune and love of simple food has sparked my produce-sparing creativity. Every few days I get another supply of tomatoes. Tossing even one of these gems into the compost pile is not an option. They are that good.

Here’s my way of saving the harvest and enjoying them all winter long. This is a “launching pad” recipe. Adjust according to what you have and how much you want to freeze. Once frozen, you can toss however many you need into soups and stews or thaw and blitz for pizza sauce.

Frozen roasted tomatoes (I used 10 medium-size tomatoes for the photo above)
What you need

Fresh tomatoes, washed and quartered (deseed and drain off most of the liquid)
Garlic, minced (I used 6 cloves for this bunch; garlic is optional)
Extra virgin olive oil
Silicone (not paper) muffin cups (these are the kind I use)

What you do
Place parchment paper on a large baking sheet. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put prepared tomatoes and garlic in a large bowl. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over ingredients and toss gently. Arrange tomatoes in a layer on the baking sheet. Place in the oven and set the timer for about 6 to 8 minutes. Using tongs or a spatula, periodically rearrange the tomatoes so they roast evenly. It takes a total of about 30 minutes to fully roast them, but do it in increments and check often as they burn easily. Remove from oven and let cool. Once the tomatoes have cooled, using tongs, fill the silicone muffin cups with tomatoes. Place the filled muffin cups on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer. Once frozen, pop the frozen tomatoes out of the silicone muffin cups and place into a freezer container or plastic freezer bag. Use as needed.

The photo above was taken after the tomatoes were roasted and placed in the muffin cups, but before I put the cookie sheet into my freezer. Use silicone muffin cups. Paper muffin cups don’t work.

Next up, gluten-free roasted tomato and basil pizza. Stay tuned. You will not believe how good this is.
Peace, love and frozen tomatoes.
Melissa

Those of you following this blog know I occasionally assign quirky personalities or off-beat characteristics to my vegetables. Contrary to what you might think, it’s not because I have too much time on my hands.

Hardly.

I just love food, especially farm-fresh fruits and vegetables. That, and the fact that I have an overly-active imagination.

Between my Grant Farms CSA veggie share and my neighbor who’s out of town and asked me to keep an eye on his tomatoes (invasion of the tomato snatcher), I have a boat-load of these wonderful gems.

Tomatoes are auxiliary verbs. Don’t get me wrong, I love them on their own, but more than any other vegetable (at least at this moment when I have dozens of them rolling around on my counter), they play a “helper” role. An auxiliary verb helps to form the tense and voice of the main verb. Stick with me here. They combine with the main verb (or ingredients) to add texture and meaning to the sentence (or recipe).

See? Tomatoes are auxiliary verbs, they “help” express the richness of the dish. The depth of the sauce. The fullness of color. They bring out the best in basil, tarragon, parsley and oregano.

Those of you who are still reading, thank you for indulging me.

Onward. Here are a few things I’ve been doing with my invasion of tomatoes.

Freezing
Thawed tomatoes make for great additions to soups, stews and sauces (think auxiliary verb). They can be frozen in a variety of ways, but here’s how I do it. Wash, dry, core and cut the tomatoes into wedges. Place them on a cookie sheet, making sure they aren’t touching each other and stick the cookie sheet in the freezer. Once frozen, place them in several individual freezer bags or containers, date them and put them back in the freezer for later.

All-purpose blended tomato sauce (which I froze in separate containers)
Once again, this is a “launching pad” recipe which was created according to what I received in my CSA share on Monday. Adjust accordingly and be creative.
what you need (be creative)
8 tomatoes, washed, cored and quartered (cut off funky spots)
6 cloves garlic, chopped in chunks
2 carrots, washed and cut in chunks
1 cup chopped squash (skins included)
1/2 onion, chopped in chunks
basil, parsley and oregano
fresh ground black pepper and sea salt to taste
* chop the veggies enough so they work in the blender

All of these ingredients, except the garlic and oregano were in my CSA box. I’m simply trying to use what I can and save the rest for later. This is a “save the rest” recipe. The basil and parsley were fresh from the farm, the oregano was dried.

what you do
Blend the tomatoes in a food processor or blender until half-way pureed. Not totally pulverized, keep some chunky stuff in there. Pour most of it into a large pot. Retain some of the tomato sauce in the blender so the rest of the ingredients have some liquid to blend with. Add the other ingredients slowly and blend well. Pour this into the pot and cook on low for an hour or so to thicken it and meld the flavors together. Season with fresh ground pepper and sea salt. Let cool, pour into individual freezer containers, write the date and what it is on the container and freeze it for later. You can also freeze some of this in small ziplock freezer bags for adding to stews and soups. A cup or so of this sauce added to a soup or stew made with vegetable, chicken or beef stock is absolutely wonderful.

For a few other veggie personality profiles (and some recipes, check below)
The deadly serious beet
Punk rock kohlrabi
Rhubarb, the little tart

There you go – auxiliary verb tomatoes!
Melissa