Tomatoes, we use them in so many things! When tomatoes are in season I look for boxes of cheap, soft tomatoes. I got the 7kg box below for $7.
From a box of tomatoes I can make tomato stock for soups, tomato puree for pizzas, gravies and casseroles, and the left over seeds and skins I either use in pickles or chutney or I feed them to our chickens.
This is how I do it:
1. Cut each tomato in half and put into a large pot. Do not add water. Tomatoes have a high water content and will soon be floating in their own juice.
2. Put the pot on the stove top and turn onto high. As soon as the tomatoes are boiling turn it down low to simmer and give them a stir to make sure they are not sticking to the bottom of the pot.
3. When the tomatoes on the top look soft and pulpy remove them from the heat and allow to cool a little. The next step is to strain the juice from the pulp. DO NOT stir or squash the tomatoes! Just pour through a sieve or colander to separate. You may need to do portions at a time depending on how big your sieve is. Allow each portion of pulp to sit in the sieve/colander for about 10 minutes gently folding the pulp over to allow gravity to pull the juice through. This makes a thicker puree in the next stage.
4. Here is the juice. I now tip this into ice cream containers to store in the freezer. I sieve it from this bowl to the container to remove the light pulp. You don't need to do this, but I like to.
5. Tomato juice ready to use or freeze.
6. Take the pulp and blend it with a stick blender.
7. This step is the hard part. Put about 1 cup of blended pulp into a sieve and using a soup spoon, push the pulp through the mesh to separate the seeds and skin from the flesh of the tomato. The end result is a lovely thick tomato flesh puree and a dry skin and seed mix.
8. Bag up the seed/skin for future pickle/chutney. Line a muffin tray with plastic wrap and spoon the puree into the molds. Freeze and turn them out into a plastic bag when frozen.
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