site banner

Tinker Tuesday for September 9, 2024

This thread is for anyone working on personal projects to share their progress, and hold themselves somewhat accountable to a group of peers.

Post your project, your progress from last week, and what you hope to accomplish this week.

If you want to be pinged with a reminder asking about your project, let me know, and I'll harass you each week until you cancel the service.

3
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Have you tried making your own paste? I take a basket of tomatoes, cut off bad parts, quarter, squeeze out the seeds, and place on a baking sheet with a bit of olive oil. I roast them at 350 until they start browning a bit. Then I run them through a grinder with strainer attachment to get rid of the skin.

The strained pulp is poured back on the baking sheet and roasted at 350 until it thickens down to your desired thickness. I stir occasionally and push it together as it thins to minimize the amount burned at the edges. Let it cool, and scoop in tablespoon sized hemispheres on a parchment paper lined tray. Freeze. When solid, you can pop them into a freezer bag for instant use at any time in helpful tablespoon portions.

Best part of frozen paste is you can use it directly for recipes or add it with water where recipes call for sauce. I also like it as an easy way to make a pseudo-marinara by combining it 1 to 1 with ketchup and spices (garlic, onion, bit of sriracha, basil, and oregano).

Hmmm.... our freezer is pretty small, but that might be worth a try. Particularly the part about freezing small individual portions, as I've noticed in the past with the 6-ounce cans of tomato paste that it's hard for me to use up the whole 6 oz before it goes bad.