I always get pretty large jars of tomato sauce, yes mostly because I’m Italian and grew up with it as a staple ingredient- we put it in just about everything we make. I’ve noticed over the years that I use it in almost all of the other types of dishes I make, too.
It seems as though just about everyone I know loves tomatoes, or at least finds a way to add flavor and color with tomato sauce in their everyday cooking. The problem is that sauce usually comes in large jars, so what happens if you only need a little bit?
Yes, you can use tomato paste- smaller tubes or cans to deal with (which can also be frozen like this), but I typically like to have both sauce and paste on hand for cooking, as each one has its own purpose in my style of cooking.
All you have to do is pour the remaining sauce into regular ice trays. Pick up the trays and pat them down on the counter again lightly, which helps to level out each square.
Let the trays freeze thoroughly so that each and every cube can pop out easily and can be stored in a freezer-safe bag or container, otherwise you run the risk of your tomato cubes smelling like whatever else is in your freezer, too.
When you’re ready to use it in cooking, add a cube to already-cooking soups and stews. One note of caution- since this will be cold and icy upon removal from the freezer, do not place it directly in oil (hot or cold), as that will create a frenzy of oil popping everywhere and you could get burned. It’s best to defrost each cube if you’ll need to use it when it’s similar to its original texture.
How do you save all that leftover tomato sauce you have when cooking?
I learned a really cool cooking idea many years ago that I’ve used over and over again to flavor soups, rice dishes and more. It’ll also help you use up that whole bag of carrots that’s going bad in your fridge right now. If you have kids, you can also use the same trick to slip into a whole host of dishes, giving them the carrots you want them to have and they aren’t too thrilled to eat.
Start off by washing and peeling fresh organic carrots. I love the colored kinds, but any variety is good as long as they’re pesticide-free. I boil a one-pound bag for about 20-30 minutes. Stick a fork in a few of them and if it slides in easily, they’re pretty much done.
Drain the water out and let the carrots cool for a few minutes. Next, use a food processor or heavy-duty blender to thoroughly process just half of the carrots. Don’t add water.
Once about half of the carrots are processed, add the rest.
Keep on churning until the carrots are completely smooth. If it takes one minute, two minutes, etc. But it shouldn’t take much longer than that.
View from the top (before it was smoothed out completely):
Here’s what you should get at the end: a nice and creamy carrot purée.
Now you can use it immediately, of course. I typically portion out the puree and store it in freezer containers or bags, such as these:
It’s so nice to have a lot to save for future meals.
And these containers stack easily in the freezer. You can find them at many drug stores, actually, during canning season.
Don’t forget to label the puree with its contents and the date. Now when you’re ready, you can add the puree to soups and stews to give them added flavor. It’s also a wonderful addition to the base of rice, which is how I first learned to use it. I also make a great carrot soup in the spring (recipe in my Summer Ramadan Cooking cookbook) and if you have a baby, well, your baby food is pretty much done, isn’t it?
Tell me, what would you make with carrot purée (fresh or frozen)?
Beautiful and fragrant fresh herbs like rosemary, and basil do well by preserving them in olive oil and freezing. Use an ice cube tray for this purpose.
Wash and dry herbs thoroughly, as leaving them wet will result in soggy and discolored herbs.
Fill an ice cube tray with about one teaspoon of freshly chopped herbs.
Pour olive oil on top, about 1/2 way up each tray hole.
Freeze until firmly frozen.
Pop cubes out and store in freezer boxes or bags to prevent odors from other ingredients in the refrigerator from penetrating the cubes and to keep them fresh.
Add cubes to soups, stews and sauce that could use both oil and the fragrant aroma of the herb you’ve selected.
It’s that time of year here in the Midwest of the U.S. and everywhere there is summer weather when our gardens are bursting with green and lovely plants and herbs.
Since we’ve had a lot of hot weather lately, my basil, tomato and zucchini plants have suddenly bolted upward. That’s great for vegetable plants, but herbs like basil need to be cut from the top so that they can grow outward and become fuller. If this isn’t done, basil plants grow vertically quite fast, which makes the leaves bitter and before you know it, you seed white flowers beginning to form at the top and the plant ready to go to seed- fine at the end of the season, but not when you want to enjoy fresh basil.
There are plenty of ways to preserve fresh basil, but this is my favorite tried-and-true method. The leaves don’t turn brown with this method, which is one of the hardest things to prevent when cut basil leaves come into contact with air and liquid. The oil used in this method smothers the leaves quite nicely so you can one day later make that perfect pesto you always wanted to…
Pick basil from plants or buy them fresh from a grocery store or farmers market.
Rinse leaves with cool water and quickly put through a salad spinner. Remove and gently but thoroughly pat dry with paper towels.
Place the clean and dried leaves in a freezer container. Add the oil to cover the leaves completely. Close the lid tightly and freeze.
Keeps for about 6 months.
To use, bring to room temperature and add to soups, stews, pasta and more. If you only want a portion of the frozen mixture, use a spoon to cut into some of it and drop into a heated pan or cooking dish and return the rest of it to the freezer.
Once it’s frozen, it looks as though it was frozen in time.
It’s absolutely lovely in pasta dishes, soups and stews- just throw it in for added flavor and feel stress-free knowing that you saved and preserved perfectly good summertime basil without letting it go to waste!
