Plum Tomatoes - Preparing to Make Fresh Sauce

We had fun today preparing the plum tomatoes my sister and I bought out East at the farms (see our farm escapades) last weekend to make sauce this weekend. I went over to my son's house where my son, daughter-in-law and I all worked together over nice conversation.

Preparing the Tomatoes:

Put up a pot of water and allow it to come to a boil. Have a bowl of ice water nearby ready to cool the tomatoes. You will have to change your ice water several times throughout the process of blanching the tomatoes.

I purchased a case of plum tomatoes freshly picked at a local farm. It looks like a lot, but it won't make all that much sauce. (See video on farm at top of page)

My son gently scrubbed the tomatoes under cool water. My daughter-in-law cored them. This is a bit time consuming, but if you all work together, it can be fun! (See video above) I also helped to wash, peel and blend when I wasn't filming or photographing.

When water is at a rolling boil, gently place tomatoes into the pot one by one with a slotted spoon. (See video above) You can only do five to seven tomatoes at a time. They will cook only one to two minutes (until their skin starts to shrivel). Take them out one by one with the slotted spoon and place them into the ice water to stop the cooking process.

Once the tomatoes are cool, peel them. (See video above) The skin should slip off easily. Remember to change the ice water several times as it warms up from putting hot tomatoes into it.

Place the tomatoes into a blender and blend for only a few seconds. My son doesn't have a large blender so he did a little at a time. Pour the blended tomatoes into a container.

The tomatoes will separate a little. That's what you see at the bottom of the containers. That's fine. We placed all the containers into the refrigerator and will make the sauce on Sunday for a birthday celebration. Blog post, video and recipe on making fresh tomato sauce coming soon.

Clean up isn't bad. My son washed a the pot and bowls, I dried, my daughter-in-law and son put things away. It looks like a lot, but it went fast. Start to finish, it took us about two hours.

Ingredients:

Plum tomatoes

I love the beautiful, ripe, red tomatoes you can get at the farms this time of year. It definitely falls into the philosophy - "We Eat First With Our Eyes" Color, Presentation in Food

We had a wonderful afternoon and a lot of fun preparing the tomatoes. My mouth is watering for the fresh sauce this Sunday!