Our Zero Waste Kitchen – Learning How To Do Preserves
The other day we found tomatoes on sale, must be tomato season! So, of course, we had to buy a bunch of them and then figure out how to make the most of them.
Besides adding tomato to absolutely everything, we decided to make tomato sauce and preserve it.
First thing was to start making the tomato sauce, we simply blended about a kilo of tomatoes and cooked them in a pan at low heat with some oil. The idea is to have a very neutral base for any other kind of sauce we want to make in the future (adding other veggies or spices).
The key here is timings, so while the sauce is simmering, we put 3 clean glass jars and their lids in the oven to heat and disinfect them for at least 20 minutes.
Once the sauce is finished you have to carefully pour it inside the hot jars, it is important for both jars and sauce to be at a similar temperature to avoid cracking. In order to close the jars, first slightly close it with the lid, hit the side of the jar with a wooden spoon so there are no air bubbles, and when it is a little cooler tighten the lid.
Lastly, let them cool and write the date on them. Since it has no sugars added this preserve should last about 6 months unopened.
We can’t wait to find some other foods on sale to experiment with other canned goods!
