Tons of Tomatoes
 

I need ways to use our bumper crop of tomatoes, please! I've made them into sun-dried tomatoes (5 hours at 200 degrees), okra and tomato gumbo, and green beans with tomato. Eating spaghetti sauce more! and tacos! Please share your tomato ideashttps://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/smile.png

Great recipe for tomato sauce to can.

Blanch to peel whole tomatoes
Fill a pot half full of cut tomatoes
Add a stick of butter and one onion cut in half
Mash tomatoes down occasionally. Simmer until thick.. Add salt to taste. Remove onion.

I use canned whole tomatoes when fresh isn't available or any food that calls for tomato sauce. It's hard to eat jar tomato sauce after having it this way.

If you like tacos, you need to can some chipotle salsa! DH throws a tablespoon into his scrambled eggs too.

I usually make up quarts of my special hot, hot salsa, spaghetti sauce and now tomato soup with lots of veggies from the garden. It's all pureed so you don't notice the veggies and it's one way to use them all up. My soup comes out fairly thick so it can also be used as spaghetti sauce as well.

When I have too many, I make Chow-chow or Nasty Pickle. It's a relish.

15 lbs tomatoes (ripe to extremely ripe)
12 large onions
10 small hot peppers
1 cup salt
1 cup sugar
1 quart vinegar

Chop onions and peppers in a blender. Add all ingredients together, mixing well. Drain overnight. I gather fabric and"hang" a large fabric ball from an overhead cabinet and let it drain into a bowl overnight. Place in jars. You can can them or just keep in the refrigerator.

Oooh, I've using lots of tomato products lately. I'd make up some salsa, enchilada sauce, tomato sauce and vegetable broth that I freeze and use later. If you are into canning, canned tomatoes or tomato paste would be great.

My new favorite recipe site is the Minimalist Baker. You can sort recipes by ingredient so you might find some interesting things there. I will warn you that many of her recipes are vegan. I'm not a vegan but have limited proteins that I can eat so this site has been very helpful.

Bruschetta, the Italian cousin of salsa and dips! If I had an overabundance of tomatoes, I might try chopping, draining and freezing, then draining again after thawing of little bits of maybe slightly less ripe tomatoes to see how a winter version (particularly cooked) might work.

Chopped tomatoes, fresh basil, onions, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. We also add black olives. Serve with nice crusty bread, with or without various cheeses and toasted or not.

Here's a traditional appetizer version from Food Network
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/...recipe-2120111

You can also use the basic same ingredients as a cooking base in something like this paper wrapped fish I put in this thread:
https://www.quiltingboard.com/recipe...s-t315092.html

Ha... No help here. One of my friends said that growing tomatoes in northern minnesota near the big lake is a true test of faith! We seldom have excess tomatoes...at least ripe ones that is. I usually just pick all the green ones right before the first frost and hope they ripen off the vine. I just planted my lettuce a week ago and it is already up. However, it also has been very warm and dry here and there is danger of forest fires. I am hoping for rain but with the way climate is changing, that just may not happening and we will all have to change our gardens a bit. I may order some cactus next year!

When I am done canning the usual spaghetti sauce, salsa and V8 juice, I gather up whatever tomatoes, peppers (hot and mild) and onions that are out there, and give them a whirl in the food processor. I put that mixture into quart ziplocks and stick them in the freezer. Easy and quick! I use that mixture in a lot of my winter cooking..mainly soups of different types.