Preserving the tomato glut even if you are short on time

How my 3-day tomato sauce can actually save you time and stress

I don’t know about you, but I have tomatoes coming out of my ears right now, which even I’ll admit has the potential to be somewhat overwhelming. But with tomatoes being a staple ingredient for so many of our meals, I’m always looking for ways to preserve the glut and utilise every last fruit in the most time efficient and least overwhelming way possible.

So today I’m sharing a Classic Tomato Sauce recipe that will save you time (and stress) in the kitchen.

Classic tomato sauce (over 3-days)

Making tomato sauce can have the illusion of being much more of a big deal than it really is; I think its the prepping of the bottles and the dealing with scalding hot liquid that is to blame. Consequently, I used to get a bit stressed at sauce making time, and would only make it when I knew I had a whole day spare to be in the kitchen with no other distractions.

However over the years I have developed a simple system which involves making it over 3 days. This may seem like I am just prolonging what can already be a tedious process, but actually it allows the tasks to be broken up into small manageable chunks, each of which can be done while dinner is cooking.

Day 1 takes a grand total of 10 minutes, Day 2 involves turning an element on and stirring the pot every now and then, while Day 3 involves blending and bottling. This is so much easier for me in my busy world, and I hope it helps those of you that find tomato sauce making day completely overwhelming, and need an easier way.

Ingredients

• 2 ½ kilograms tomatoes

• 1 large onion

• 5 cloves garlic, minced

• ½ teaspoon minced red chili, seeds removed

• 1 cup white vinegar

• 1 cup raw sugar

• 1 1/4 packed cups brown sugar

Method

Day 1 (5-10 min) 

• Wash and chop the tomatoes into chunks and add to a large heavy based pot. Skin and roughly dice the onion and add along with the minced garlic, the minced chili, and the vinegar. At this point, you have the option of placing a lid on the pot and storing it in the fridge (or even just on the kitchen bench) until the following day. Or if time allows, you can continue on with step 2.

Day 2 (1 ½ hour simmer time while preparing dinner)

• Remove the pot from the fridge and bring the contents to the boil with the lid on. Remove the lid, turn the heat down to medium-high and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring every now and then.

• Add the sugar and mix it in until it is fully dissolved. Simmer the sauce for another 30 minutes, until everything has cooked right down and the sauce has thickened slightly. Stir often and be careful the bottom of the pot doesn’t catch - if it does turn the heat down lower.

• Allow the sauce to cool then place the lid on and put into the fridge (or once again leave on the kitchen bench) until the next day.

Day 3 (25-30 minutes)

• Blend the cooled sauce in batches until smooth using a blender or a hand-held stick blender. Pop back on the element and begin to gently heat. Preheat oven to 130C

• As the sauce heats, allow it to slowly come to the boil, stirring often. Reduce the heat and simmer while you prepare your bottles.

• Thoroughly clean your chosen bottles inside and out - a bottle cleaner is a good investment here, especially if lots of sauce making is on the horizon. We use olive oil bottles or wine bottles for our sauces, but you could use whatever you have on hand. If using wine bottles, you can use corks to seal, but I have had the odd one pop before, so screw top lids are recommended. Place the clean bottles into a sink of hot as you can handle it water for a few minutes to heat through, then drain the water out and place them onto the oven rack in the middle of the oven on their sides. If the oven hasn’t properly preheated yet don’t worry - the bottles will slowly warm up as it does.

• Continue to stir your sauce, watching it doesn’t catch on the bottom, until the bottles have been in the oven for 10-15 minutes. At this point your sauce should be thick and pourable.

• While the sauce is cooking, sterilise your equipment and set up your space. Place the bottle tops into a small bowl and cover them with boiling water. Also pour boiling water over any implements you are going to use for bottling, such as a ladle, funnel, and pouring jug. Get a wooden board ready to place the hot bottles onto, and have a clean cloth handy too. Remove the bottles from the oven and stand up on the board. Ladle the hot sauce into a pouring vessel, then carefully pour the sauce through a funnel into the bottles. Fill right up to the top. Wipe away any excess sauce from the sides of the bottles, and screw the lids on tight. Allow the sauce to sit overnight, then move into a cool dark place for storage. This sauce will last for up to a year, or even longer if conditions are right.

Recipe notes

• This sauce contains a decent amount of raw and brown sugar which gives it a classic rich flavour, and means it can be stored indefinitely. However, if you like, you can cut the amount down to just 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 cup of raw sugar; keep in mind your sauce might be slightly runnier.

• You can double the recipe, just allow for longer cooking time.