My garden is exploding in tomatoes…which I love…..I am just adjusting my plans with the tomatoes that are ripening as I go.  I have only had a handful ripe at one time, so I have been able to easily make meals and/or snacks with them.  This past week, I have had too many to work into our meals and not enough friends who like tomatoes (hello!).  Hopefully, towards the end of summer – my mom and I will be canning together….but now I am making a frozen tomato puree to use in future meals.

Like my hard water??

• 20 roma tomatoes
• 6 heirloom tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon basil, oregano, thyme
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 chopped extra large onion or 1 small onion
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• salt/pepper

I used my blender to puree all the tomatoes with a cup of water and added that to a large pot…..um..that pic doesn’t have all of them.

At this time, I started sauteing the onion with a dash of salt and pepper.  Just towards the end, I added in the garlic….being careful not to burn it.

Then it all goes into the pot with the tomatoes.  Then add the rest of the spices and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

I taste tested mine as I went to ensure that it was not overpowering on the spices and still maintained a strong tomato taste.  I want to use this as a base in future meals and since I have different options as to what those meals will be….I want to keep it loose.

After the mixture cooled, I poured it into some freezer bags and placed them in the freezer.

All in all – I am happy with the result and will let you know what meals I end up using this for.

Right off the bat, I am thinking – spaghetti, barley soup, chili and chicken makhani.