Friday, September 21, 2007

summer in a jar

I think we're crazy.
Okay, I know that I'm crazy.

This week, while walking through the Jean Talon market, we saw barrels and barrels of plump juicy tomatoes. Plum, Roma, Round, etc. But when we saw San Marzano, I knew we just had to have them. So we bought them, all 30 lbs of them. Yes, we are only 2 people....BUT canning is easy and so economical!

San Marzanos are the king of all sauce tomatoes. They are firmer and meatier than a Roma, making it a perfect candidate for a marinara sauce. Needless to say, I was very excited about all 30 lbs of them.

I decided to can them as whole, peeled tomatoes rather than as a marinara sauce. We added a sprig of basil and thyme to each jar to add to the fresh taste. Come the cold winter months, it will be nice to have a choice to be able to make a bolognese, a marinara, or even a pizza sauce - you get the point, it will just be nice to have a taste of summer when it's -30 outside.

30 lbs of tomatoes made 13 1-litre jars and took about 3 hours to can.
The sweet sound of those lids popping was well worth the trouble any day.

Call me when it's -30 outside and I'll hook you up with some summer in a jar.

5 comments:

Meghan said...

i love to see people canning! i can't wait to start!

Annie Ruok said...

I wouldn't say crazy - brave is more the word! Very impressive! There are 100s of uses for good canned tomoatoes - u won't regret it! Brings back memories of when my mom would spend days in the kitchen canning tomatoes, pickling cucumbers & making jam (all from home grown produce)...she hadn't canned in a few yrs & I just found out that she made her famous 'chili sauce' (a chunky fruit ketchup) this wk!

Anonymous said...

Hahaha 30 lbs! You guys are nuts, but pretty awesome!

By the way, I tagged you for a meme on my blog dina :) The question was "What five foods are you ashamed to love?"

Aimée said...

Great job! I know, those tomatoes are hard to resist. Your sauce looks tasty!

Anonymous said...

is there any tips to canning?