Tomatoes

One of the most obvious things you can do to preserve a bountiful harvest of tomatoes is to make tomato sauce or tomato puree.

Most recipes you find for preserving tomatoes this way will tell you to peel them but if you're gathering several bucketfuls a week, the last thing you'll want to do is spend hours peeling them unless you've got a LOT of time on your hands - which as a single mother to a active toddler with a lot of animals and a garden to look after, I don't. And honestly I've never had a problem using unpeeled tomatoes in my sauce but I guess it's all down to personal preference.

If you want to peel your tomatoes, the best way is to cut an 'X' into the bottom with a sharp knife, put them in a pan and pour boiling water over them.  The hot water helps to loosen the skins. Leave them to stand for about 10 minutes, then strain off the water and peel them using a knife, removing the core

If, like me, you don't have the time or energy for this, just cut out the core (green bit in the tops where the tomato attached to the stalk), put them in a pan and heat them gently.

In the past what I did was cook the tomatoes, blend them into a sauce with a stick blender, and then spend hours and hours reducing the sauce on the stove until it was thick enough. In our hot summers here in Portugal this is not a nice way to spend the day, adding heat and steam to an already unbearably hot environment. 

This year I had a light-bulb moment which has since saved me many, many hours of unnecessary cooking, unnecessary heat, and unnecessary gas. After removing the core and gently heating, I noticed that the tomatoes released A LOT of liquid which could very easily be poured off.  This step can be repeated multiple times until most of the liquid is gone. I save the liquid to use in cooking. It's heavily flavoured so makes a great stock. When most of the liquid has been removed, the remaining tomatoes can be blended into a thick puree that can be bottled or frozen.