July 2, 2025 • 29 mins
Perfectly Preserved Podcast episode show notes season 3 episode 109 How to Use Canned Tomatoes | Our Favorite Canned Tomato Recipes
Anna and Jenny talk about how tomatoes require acidification and the conditions that result in a lower acid tomato. They discuss their favorite ways of using canned tomatoes, and their favorite recipes.
Hosted by Master Food Preservers Anna Cash and Jenny Gomes
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Canning Supplies We Recommend
Help support the show here: buymeacoffee.com/perfectlypreservedpodcast
Buy The Pressure Canning Cookbook here: https://amzn.to/3Cn3qJn
Get the Pineapple Habanero jam recipe from Anna here: https://smarthomecanning.com/products/recipe-for-pineapple-habanero-pepper-jelly
Anna’s Video courses- learn with Anna!
These notes have affiliate links which don’t change the price of the products we recommend, but help us keep creating the podcast. Please shop through our links!
Canning Supplies We Recommend
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Welcome to the PerfectlyPreserved Podcast.
I'm your host Jenny Gomes.
And I'm Anna Cash.
Here we come together to bringyou a podcast all about
preserving food safely, easily,and dare I say, perfectly.
At home.
We are master food preserversmoms wives, and we love talking
about canning.
ready to can like a masterpreserver.
(00:21):
Let's get into today's episode.
anna_2_06-25-2025_12165 (00:25):
Welcome back to another episode of The
Perfectly Preserved podcast.
I'm Anna here with my co-host,Jenny, I'm laughing because when
you are recording a podcastepisode, sometimes you flub a
little and I just did.
We are so glad you're here.
We have been really enjoying thefeedback from the podcast.
We have been getting moredownloads than ever, so if you
(00:47):
love our podcast, please shareit with a friend.
Rate it and review it whereverpodcasts are available for you
under that purple icon is whereI find mine.
If you want Jenny and I to comeand speak at an event all about
preserving, we would love to dothat.
We are super interested intravel and educating those that
wanna learn more about foodpreserving.
(01:10):
So let's get into today'sepisode, Jenny.
We are going to be talking aboutsomething really fun.
we're gonna be talking about.
Tomatoes and acidification, andour favorite recipes to use with
our canned tomatoes.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (01:24):
Okay, so if you are brand new, welcome
Anna and I are master foodpreservers and we love sharing
up to date tested information.
And that sometimes comes maybenot head to head, but it might
feel like it's in contrast tograndma's tomato sauce recipe or
the recipe that someone used foryears and years.
(01:44):
And it doesn't have to.
we're gonna talk a little bitabout why it's important to use
a tested tomato recipe, and thenwe're gonna dive into the, our
favorite ways of using cannedtomato recipes all year long.
All the different recipes youcan try.
And we're just gonna, this isgonna be an ode to this canned
tomato.
That would be an alternate titleto this episode.
People, I think falsely believethat tomatoes are more acidic
(02:08):
than they actually are.
I think it's because we eatthings that give us heartburn or
indigestion that are tomato.
We like greasy pizza or othertomato things.
But tomatoes are actually not asacidic as you might think.
And in fact, raspberries andmost fruit are more acidic than
tomatoes.
They are.
(02:29):
A pH of about 4.6, like 4.6 ish.
They have a lot of variabilitywithin just being a tomato,
there's a lot of variabilityfrom plant to plant, from
species to species or type totype.
There's a lot of variability andwhere they're grown, there's
just a lot more variability thanyou might expect.
(02:50):
They're right at the edge ofwhat is safe for water bath
canning.
So all tomato recipes shouldhave the addition of an
acidifying ingredient.
And if your recipe that youwanna use does not call for
citric acid, lemon juice, orvinegar, then you need to find
one that is similar.
(03:10):
It can be just like, or very,very similar to the recipe that
you love, but it needs to havethat addition of an acidifying
ingredient to be safe.
So Anna, before I talk about,the things that can reduce the
acidity of tomatoes, what do youwanna add to that?
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (03:26):
I am a massive seed saver A steward of
heirloom varieties of plants andvegetables.
And every year at the seed swappeople are like, oh, what
variety of tomato are yougetting?
Loves to have a rare variety oftomato, maybe one that's older.
Even though the varieties thatwe choose that are heirloom it
(03:48):
doesn't exactly mean thatthey're high Right?
There are things and conditionsthat make a tomato a low acid,
and that could be growingtomatoes in the shade, tomatoes
that have been cracked, bruised,or have blossom end rot that
creates a more low acid tomato.
And so when we say it'simportant that you acidify every
(04:10):
single tomato recipe that youhave, that's the reason why.
So you may have like a olderheirloom, high to tomato, but it
could be grown in a low acidway, if that makes sense.
So there are variables that weneed to keep in mind when we're
processing tomatoes the USDA andthe National Center for Home
(04:31):
Food Preservation has said thatwe need to acidify all, tomato
products.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_11 (04:36):
And because they're so popular,
that's why it's actually apretty serious issue that all of
you become converts, and sharewith all of your canning friends
that your tomato recipes need tobe acidified because the most
popular canned item in Americais canned tomatoes.
As Anna mentioned the growingconditions, which you may not be
(04:57):
able to control some of these ifyou grew them right, and some of
them you could control, but allof them you need to understand
can make the acidity lower andthe pH number higher, making it
less acidic.
So those conditions would belike decay or damage from
bruises, cracks, blossom anddrop, or insects.
Tomatoes that are grown in theshade or ripened in shorter
(05:20):
hours of daylight or ripened offthe vine as opposed to ripened
in direct sun on the vine orover ripened.
And then tomatoes attached todead vines.
That harvest as opposed totomatoes harvest from healthy
vines, decayed and damagedtomatoes, and those harvested
from frost, kilt, or dead vinesshould not be home canned.
(05:40):
So it's interesting to hear thatlong list because we think of
canning as being like.
Being super frugal and using upall the types of food products
that we have available to us.
And if you had some bruisedtomatoes or ones that were a
little over ripe, you mightthink, oh, I should can these up
(06:00):
and save them.
But what would be best isprobably choosing a different
method of preservation.
You could, like if it were meand I had these kind of soft,
pretty watery tomatoes, I wouldprobably.
Blitz them up and make like asimple sauce and freeze it in
the wide mouth jars that have afreeze line, I would freeze
(06:21):
that.
Or you could have'em whole, Imean they might be kind of soft.
I mean they, depending on thetomato, it might be really too
soft to can hole or to freezewhole, but you could freeze them
whole.
We talked about that in aprevious episode.
How you can freeze tomatoeswhole with the skin on and then
when you defrost them, the skinsjust slide right off.
If you just had a bunch of softtomatoes or end of season
tomatoes and you wanted topreserve them, that's amazing.
(06:44):
So as Anna mentioned, people arejust super into heirloom
varieties and the like, choosingthe right variety.
Instead of thinking about thevariety so much, maybe think
instead of Were these in fullsun?
Are they healthy?
Are they coming off of a healthyvine?
And then worry less about thevariety, because that seems to
(07:04):
matter less in terms of thefinal product when you're
preserving, don't you think,Anna?
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (07:10):
Yeah, I mean for me it's, it's about
the flavor and what it
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-202 (07:14):
Mm-hmm.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (07:14):
And if we're going to be acidifying
every single tomato
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-202 (07:18):
Mm-hmm.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (07:18):
like that, you just have to acidify
every tomato product is thefinal answer, what we recommend
as master food preservers.
Yeah.
So let's get into some recipesthat we would use for.
Or canned tomatoes because I hada friend who just recently went
through the master foodpreserver course, here in Utah,
(07:39):
and she said.
I learned the craziest thing.
And that is to learn how toutilize maybe one really good,
either diced tomatoes or tomatoAnd then use it in different
ways.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_11 (07:52):
mm.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (07:53):
we had our previous episode where we
talked about tomatoes and whatwe do with our tomatoes because
when you're first starting outcanning, you might have 10
different things you wanna make,right?
Enchilada sauce, and you wannamake ketchup and barbecue
Really.
Once you do it for a long time,you realize, I can just do this
one for me.
It's diced tomatoes or crushedAnd I can convert that into a
(08:15):
lot of different recipes.
Jenny, what about you?
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_111 (08:18):
So the one recipe I usually, I
would say is my go-to and Iwould say 80% of the tomatoes
that I can.
I use this one recipe, I thinkit was out of a ball blue book,
and it's on my blog, theDomestic Wildflower.
It's my easy tomato recipe, andthe only change I made to the
recipe is the fact that I blendthe tomatoes in the blender and
I don't peel them.
(08:39):
Which doesn't change the safetyof the recipe or the pH or
anything, and it's acidified ofcourse.
But it's just, to me it is avery useful pantry staple that
has a little garlic and a littleonion, right?
Because we know that garlic andonion are also alkaline veggies.
So we don't ever change theamount or increase, we never
(09:01):
increase the amount of thoseingredients when we're canning.
Right.
And it just has well, I'll justtell you the recipe.
It's 12 pounds of tomatoes, halfof a medium onion dice, two
teaspoons chopped garlic, twoteaspoons olive oil, and half a
teaspoon to every pint jar ofcitric acid.
(09:23):
So it's a very simple recipe.
And the only thing that I dothat is, I would say different
is that I blend the tomatoes.
Like either in a food chopsetting, like I remember that
was like, the button I wouldpush is like food chop on the
blender, just so that it'smostly a fairly smooth slurry,
but still like some chunks oftomatoes.
And then you skip the peelingstep.
(09:44):
And while you're blending yourtomatoes, you can be sauteing
your garlic and onion so thatthey're soft.
And then, you know, you processthat up.
I can just tell you the timereal quick so that we have a
complete recipe.
So you process 25 minutes at sealevel, and then of course you
add every five minutes for everya thousand feet.
You are canning above sea level,and those are for pint jars.
(10:07):
So anyway, that's on my blog ifyou wanna check that out.
But it's,
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (10:10):
Cool.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_1 (10:10):
it's a great little recipe that I can
over and over and over.
And what I like about it is thatit's.
It's like it's good enough byitself.
but you also can add, when youopen it up, it's blank enough
that you can add differentseasonings or flavors or
whatever to you, to it.
So to me it is a very versatiletomato recipe.
I do can other, like once a yearI'll can not once a year, but
(10:35):
like I'll can a couple otherbatches of other things that are
tomato.
Specific, and I'll talk aboutthose in a little bit, but
that's like my go-to.
That's my go-to tomato.
But you do a diced, is that whatyou do, Anna?
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (10:47):
Yep.
And it's really plain because Ido like to be able to add things
it's just diced tomatoes andit's in their own juice.
And I add citric acid and I alsoadd salt, but I do like the idea
of yours of adding some onionsand garlic I think that, that's
smart.
(11:08):
I think I'm gonna take a pagefrom your playbook and do that
this year.
I just went downstairs to grab acan of tomatoes and realized
that I'm close to being out morethis year.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (11:21):
well, yeah, it's the thing that you
can't really can too much of,honestly.
I mean, to me, tomatoes are sucha useful pantry staple.
I'm just probably like most momslike trying to think about how
many vegetables are my kidseating every day.
It's an easy added vegetable,like my favorite to do with that
tomato sauce recipe that Imentioned is if you buy those
filled pastas, the filledraviolis, I always try and get
(11:44):
those on sale when I see them.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (11:45):
Okay.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025 (11:46):
Either they have like chicken in them
or just cheese or whatever thatand the tomato sauce, that's a
pretty good dinner, right?
you could add to that, butthere's been plenty of nights in
my life that is what my kids andI had for supper.
My husband's like a big meateater.
He would want like a largeserving a meat with that.
But if it's just the kids and Iat home, then raviolis with
tomato sauce is absolutely whatwe would do sometimes.
(12:09):
But yeah, just a versatile, onceyou dial in the one that you
feel like is useful for yourfamily, can all of it can it?
As much as you can And you'llnever be Sorry,
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (12:20):
Yeah, because unlike other things, a
tomato sauce won't lose flavor.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (12:25):
Yeah.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (12:26):
bit of color over time, but the flavor
will still be good
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_1 (12:30):
Yes.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (12:30):
to say canned peaches
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (12:32):
Good.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (12:33):
shelf life on those is really good.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_111 (12:34):
So good that you said that because
I remember when my kids werereally small, I spent a ton of
time canning like fruit cups,which was great, right?
all the moms out there canned,the little jars with the diced
peaches and pears, and a few,cherry it's adorable.
You're gonna feel so good aboutyourself, it's great.
But the shelf life of those isso much shorter because peaches
(12:56):
just sort of dissolve.
it's still delicious and safe orwhatever.
It's great to do, but tomatosauce, that's gonna last forever
and ever.
Amen.
It's still be red.
It's still gonna be tasty.
It's like as good as the daywhen you can it, if not better.
So you can't go too hog wild.
I wouldn't say.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (13:18):
No.
So one of the recipes that Ilove to use for my diced
tomatoes came from friends of.
My in-laws, and they were from,I believe they were from Eastern
Europe somewhere.
And so we call it pea snackpasta.
what it is, is you boil about ahalf a pound of spaghetti
(13:43):
noodles and in the other pan anda saute pan, you're gonna do
onions, garlic olive oil.
And you get that really nice andsoft, you cook it on medium, you
don't wanna cook it on high.
Then you add a half a cup or ahandful of fresh basil and you
throw it in the pan then youdrain your can of, diced
(14:07):
tomatoes.
And then you put the tomatoes inand then you add your cooked
pasta to that.
And it's just like an easy.
I say one pan, but it's notreally'cause you have to cook
the pasta in another pot.
You that all around, get all ofthat nice olive oil coating
your, spaghetti noodles.
And then I add a cup of Parmesancheese and half a cup of feta.
(14:30):
If I don't know what to cookthat night, that's what I cook.
And I usually have everything onhand for that.
So it's pretty easy.
That's one of my favorite waysto use diced tomatoes.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_1 (14:42):
That sounds delicious.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (14:44):
ways.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25- (14:44):
Delicious.
Such a great tip.
I like that.
If you have a jar of tomatosauce, like you could use it,
um, I would say like fullstrength, right?
Like just out of the jar, pourit into the sauce, pan, warm it
up, and then use that as a pastasauce.
Or I can take like, let's sayhalf a jar and then put it on
low and simmer it.
(15:06):
And then that can be a reallygreat pizza sauce, which.
I mean, yeah, you would add someoregano, you would add some
thyme, you would add, whateverherbs you have on hand.
Definitely check out our episodeabout planting and preserving
herbs for ideas, for herbs, but,um, that it's like an easy, what
is the right word?
It's not too thick, it's not toothin.
(15:26):
It's just right.
Like you can, you could thin itout if you needed to.
You could thicken it up prettyeasily and in, in the amount of
time that you're cooking out allthe other things.
I feel like it's also useful inthat way.
Is now the time to talk aboutwhen we wanna add herbs to
canned tomato products.
Anna, what happens to thatdelicious basil flavor?
What happens if you were to addlike a handful of basil to your
(15:48):
pasta and you, or excuse me,your pasta sauce, and then you
can it.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (15:53):
Yes.
So over time, those herbs willamplify in flavor.
So if you wanna add some herbs,just make sure to use a light
And see how it goes.
And then the next year maybe youcan adjust that.
But I've found that especiallyfresh herbs.
Along with dried herbs, theyjust seem to amplify when
(16:13):
they're in a jar for an extendedperiod of time, It might be too
strong.
So just use a light hand whenyou're doing herbs in your
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025 (16:22):
That's a great tip.
Especially if you're pressurecanning.
Let's say you were canning atomato like a marinara sauce and
you were pressure canning it.
All those tomato recipes arealso acidified, even though
you're pressure canning.
So bear that in mind.
I felt like adding green, likemostly basal, right?
I felt like it was, I mean,there was some flavor, but.
(16:46):
They just kind of like theleaves are almost disappear and
turn into like smudge at thebottom of the jar.
And I felt like that basilwould've been much better.
It would've been much moredelicious, just eaten fresh on a
Capri salad, or just you couldmake a pesto and store that in
the fridge and then add thatthere's a, I feel like it was
just wasted in the canningprocess.
(17:09):
So while an herb like Rosemarygets certainly intensified and
you should be.
Cautious in terms of just don'tadd more than follow a recipe
and then maybe even ratchet backwith something like rosemary.
But like leafy greens.
Like basil, I feel like I'mlike, that was a waste of a lot
of basil.
Like you just don't taste it anddoesn't look any better.
(17:31):
It looks worse.
There's no pretty green flex.
Same with parsley?
No, pretty green flex.
Same with canned salsa.
Same with, yeah.
No.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (17:39):
say the same.
no cilantro,
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (17:42):
Yeah, cilantro evaporates.
There's nothing left.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (17:47):
I forgot about that.
Yeah, those tender herbs tend tojust disappear,
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (17:51):
Yeah.
So for a tender herb, I wouldjust add them at the reheat or
add them when you're cookingthem.
I wouldn't waste them canningthem because they just taste
like nothing.
What other canning recipes withtomatoes do you love besides
your standard basic one?
Anna?
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (18:07):
So I love using my diced tomatoes as
an ingredient.
Like I can throw together a tacosoup really quickly with fresh
ground beef and then drain itand then add all of my canned
stuff like canned corn andtomatoes and beans.
All of these things I canduring, late fall and early
winter.
(18:28):
And that's a really easy way touse your canned food.
I also make a lot of tomato soupand pizza.
And you use your tomato sauceand I actually just drain my can
of diced tomatoes.
And then I just add a little bitof basil maybe.
But I got that idea when we werein Italy and I was noticing that
(18:51):
the tomato sauces weren't reallya thick sauce and they weren't
flavored with herbs really.
And it was so surprising to me'cause it was just tomatoes and
it just tasted so good.
And I was like, I wonder if Icould do that with my canned
tomatoes.
And it tasted phenomenal.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (19:08):
Yeah.
Kind of wonder if we haven't.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (19:12):
using good tomatoes,
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (19:13):
Well, yeah, that's what I'm gonna say.
I think that we've becomeaccustomed to churching up the
tomato sauce with a lot of herbsand a lot of other ingredients
because potentially we weren'tusing delicious tomatoes.
So if you are getting homegrowntomatoes from somebody,
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (19:29):
yeah.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_1116 (19:30):
I would challenge you to just keep
it plain or keep it pretty basicwith the recipe and see if you
don't Just love that strongtomato flavor.
All on its own.
I was gonna mention one strangelittle recipe that I love to
can, one batch of every year orevery other year is tomato jam.
It's not like a jam jam, it'scalled jam.
(19:50):
It should be called somethingelse.
But a weird tomato jam is so, Iwould call it like close to a
dried tomato flavor or like a.
Dried tomato spread.
You don't use dried tomatoes,but like it's thickened
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (20:05):
Okay.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025 (20:07):
Anna's hesitant.
I can tell by your face.
You're like, Ew, gross.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (20:10):
I'm nervous about it.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_1116 (20:11):
I love tomato jam.
Just having a little bit on handof just a rich punch of tomato.
It's so good.
It's really good.
if you choose that with let'ssay goat cheese on top of pasta,
or you eat it with cream cheeseon an everything bagel it's more
like a sauce and not a jam.
I it when I demonstrated at fiveMary's, with a big group of
(20:35):
campers.
We all made this tomato jam andeverybody loved it.
So it's six pounds of tomatoes,salt, pepper, garlic, balsamic
vinegar, and dry white wine.
And that's also on my blog, butit's like it's very dark in
color.
It looks kinda like the color ofbarbecue sauce and it's that
balsamic vinegar taste.
It is really, really good guys.
(20:57):
If you want like a weirddifferent, something other than
normal tomato sauce, I think itis very handy to have a little
Be very good on a charcuterieboard or with crispy fried
things, it's very tasty.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (21:10):
I think this is gonna be the year
that I try it.
I keep putting it off'cause itsounds so disgusting to
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (21:16):
Well, there's no,
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (21:18):
I don't know.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-202 (21:19):
there's only a little bit of sugar.
It's like one and a half cups ofsugar.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (21:23):
I'm just gonna do it.
I'm gonna see how it is.
So I have an issue with tomatoesanyway, when I was a kid, my
parents made me eat.
A bowl of tomato soup and theywouldn't let me leave the table
until I ate it.
And it was so horrible.
And I think I ended up throwingit up.
(21:45):
And so now I just reallystruggle eating tomato sauce or
like super strong tomato
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_11 (21:51):
Oh.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (21:52):
I worry that this balsamic tomato
thing is going to make me.
Reminiscent of that horrible,horrible time.
But I also know that as you age,your taste can change and you
can, like things that you didn'tlike previously.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_1 (22:09):
It's fine if it's not for you, but if
you like both walnut vinegar andyou like tomatoes, those are the
flavors in the jam, and I thinkit's so good.
It's so wild.
But, do you, can any, likeenchilada sauce or do you, can
any other little tomatoeyproducts that are just not your
basics?
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (22:24):
No, I don't.
We don't really like, anenchilada Like when I do my
chicken enchiladas, I simmer iton the stove top with some
chicken broth, and then I dip myfried corn tortillas in it and
then roll it with my filling.
no, I don't know.
I just don't do that.
Enchilada sauce.
I do a ton of salsa.
I do a lot of diced tomatoes,that's about it.
(22:49):
I did find today I wasdownstairs in my pantry looking
for some diced tomatoes and Ifound a quart jar of tomato soup
that I had canned from 2020 andI was like, oh, I should
probably give this to one of mykids who likes tomato soup
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (23:07):
Yeah.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (23:07):
not me.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_1116 (23:09):
I think I should can tomato soup
because I actually really liketomato soup.
Another recipe that you guyscould try is marinara sauce.
So then you're really cooking inadvance, you're having your meat
cooked.
Combined with your tomatoproduct, and it's all canned
together in a pressure cannerbecause you're definitely low
acid at that point, right?
(23:30):
You're a hundred percent in thelow acid category, which
requires the use of a pressurecanner.
So I have a recipe in my book,the Pressure Canon Cookbook, but
you also, there's lots of goodrecipes on, the Cooperative
extension offices, or theNational Center for Home Food
Preservation, marinara sauce.
I feel like that's next level interms of an entire meal in a
jar.
other than the pasta, the wholething is ready for you and it's
(23:53):
already cooked.
So, those can be really smart,canned ahead for busy nights.
My son is gonna start footballthis season and I'm gonna be
driving to the faraway town, notmy close town, but my faraway
town.
It's been in my mind that oncetomatoes come on, I should
probably can some of that sothat I can really up my meal
(24:15):
prep, my slow food meal prepgame.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (24:18):
Yeah.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_11 (24:18):
But yeah, that might be a tomato
recipe for you to check out ifthat's your season of life, to
have all like jurors of that onhand.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (24:27):
I think that episode is a great
idea.
You can use your tomatoes to do,soups in a jar.
I think you cover that in yourpressure cannon cookbook, right?
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (24:36):
Yeah, I do.
And actually most of my soupsare more like stews, but that's
just is mostly like what myhusband likes.
But there are lots of testedsoup recipes.
Maybe now is a good time tomention that many soups that we
love have dairy in them.
And you can find good recipesthat are tested that will not,
(24:56):
none of the tested recipes willhave dairy, but you can just add
a splash of cream when you heatit up.
So don't.
Continue your search forsomething you're not gonna find.
You are not gonna find a testedpressure canning recipe or soup
recipe that has cream.
Or cheese or the Parmesan andnone of that, none of those
tasty ingredients.
You're not gonna have that.
But, that doesn't mean you can'tadd that at the reheat and you
(25:17):
have to reheat it anyway.
You know what I mean?
you're gonna have a sauce pan onthe stove heating it up.
So at that point, that's whenyou can pour in a swirl of
cream.
And the cheese.
I love cheese.
Add the cheese then,
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (25:28):
heck yeah.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025 (25:28):
that's actually, I wish that there was
more testing or test any testingon like nut milks.
Not that I'm a big nut milk fan,but it would be cool if we knew
that those were safe to can,which we do not know.
Okay.
Do not.
Can almond milk right now guys?
No oat milk.
No pecans.
No nuts.
(25:48):
No nut milk.
It would be cool because thenyou would be closer to that
being like, just the only thingyou need is that jar of canned
food.
But we don't know that yet.
If I had unlimited funds, Iwould fund the testing myself,
but that's not the case.
But yeah, that'd be, that's likethe next thing you could be
thinking about is canningtomatoes in more like meal ready
situations.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (26:08):
Yeah.
pressure canning may seemdaunting, but once you
understand it, once you get thelogistics of how to do it, it's
like the other piece of thepuzzle for processing low acid
foods.
And for those of you that don'tknow, Jenny does have.
A cookbook that shepainstakingly wrote called The
Pressure Canning Cookbook, andit's so great.
(26:29):
The recipes in there are sofabulous and it's written really
well.
And you have not checked thatout, you can purchase it on
Amazon.
And we will also have link belowfor that
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (26:40):
Well, thank you.
And by painstakingly we mean allthe recipes are based on.
Tested recipes so that it's, youknow, it's safe.
And I sadly did not have anycream recipes'cause that's,
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (26:51):
Yes,
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_11 (26:51):
Uh, thank you for that, Anna.
If you're interested in learningabout pressure canning, go back
to season one.
We have several episodes allabout pressure canning, and
we'll walk you through it.
So next time you're like on adrive or washing the dishes,
tune in to season one and listento those pressure canning
episodes.
That will be a perfect primer.
To just get your, toes wet andfigure out, all the things,
(27:13):
pressure canning.
It's really helpful to get anidea of what that's all about,
because you're right, it does,it unlocks a whole nother set of
food preservation that's reallylike next level in terms of the
potential of how handy that willbe and how useful for your
pantry, useful for your mealprep, useful for your life.
Hopefully this episode was likean ode to the tomato for you
(27:35):
guys.
It gave you some good ideas forrecipes you wanna try out.
Before we end, I wanted tomention one other tomato thing.
Hot sauce is a tomato-basedrecipe that many people love to
can, and that's great.
It just as always, with everytomato recipe, it's so important
that you use a tested recipebecause obviously with the
(27:56):
tomatoes you're adding peppersand or onions and or garlic, and
all of those ingredients are lowacid.
So it's super important youfollow carefully.
A tested recipe because it'sgoing to have probably more than
one acidifying ingredients,probably gonna have vinegar and
probably citric acid.
So, um.
That's another category oftomato recipes that are awesome.
(28:17):
I think they're so giftable,like everybody would love to get
a can of or a jar of your cannedhot sauce, right?
But just be absolutely certainyou're following closely a
tested recipe and don't veer offfrom that.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (28:28):
Yeah.
Thanks so much, Jenny.
That was, I think that we cannotspecify enough that you have to
follow a tested recipe
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (28:38):
Yeah.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (28:38):
this, these tomato products because
they really are on that line ofunsafe safe for water, bath,
canning, and it's just reallyimportant that you acidify every
single tomato product that youdo.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025 (28:51):
That's your take home point, guys.
Share it with a friend.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (28:56):
All right.
Thanks so much everyone forjoining the Perfectly Preserved
podcast.
We love having you here.
If you found this episodehelpful, please share it with a
friend, and as always, subscribeon YouTube or rate and review
our podcast where you listen toyour podcasts.
Thanks everyone, and we'll talkto you next
That's our show.
(29:17):
We don't want you to miss anepisode, so please be sure to
subscribe.
If you found this episodehelpful and informative, please
give our show a rating andreview.
It only takes a few seconds andit really helps our show grow.
Follow us on social media atSmart Home Canning and at the
domestic wildflower.
Email your preserving questionsto Perfectly Preserved
(29:39):
podcast@gmail.com and we will doour best to answer your
questions on the show.
Thanks so much for listening.
Stay tuned for our next episodereleased every week.
Welcome to the PerfectlyPreserved Podcast.
I'm your host Jenny Gomes.
And I'm Anna Cash.
Here we come together to bringyou a podcast all about
preserving food safely, easily,and dare I say, perfectly.
At home.
We are master food preserversmoms wives, and we love talking
about canning.
ready to can like a masterpreserver.
(00:21):
Let's get into today's episode.
anna_2_06-25-2025_12165 (00:25):
Welcome back to another episode of The
Perfectly Preserved podcast.
I'm Anna here with my co-host,Jenny, I'm laughing because when
you are recording a podcastepisode, sometimes you flub a
little and I just did.
We are so glad you're here.
We have been really enjoying thefeedback from the podcast.
We have been getting moredownloads than ever, so if you
(00:47):
love our podcast, please shareit with a friend.
Rate it and review it whereverpodcasts are available for you
under that purple icon is whereI find mine.
If you want Jenny and I to comeand speak at an event all about
preserving, we would love to dothat.
We are super interested intravel and educating those that
wanna learn more about foodpreserving.
(01:10):
So let's get into today'sepisode, Jenny.
We are going to be talking aboutsomething really fun.
we're gonna be talking about.
Tomatoes and acidification, andour favorite recipes to use with
our canned tomatoes.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (01:24):
Okay, so if you are brand new, welcome
Anna and I are master foodpreservers and we love sharing
up to date tested information.
And that sometimes comes maybenot head to head, but it might
feel like it's in contrast tograndma's tomato sauce recipe or
the recipe that someone used foryears and years.
(01:44):
And it doesn't have to.
we're gonna talk a little bitabout why it's important to use
a tested tomato recipe, and thenwe're gonna dive into the, our
favorite ways of using cannedtomato recipes all year long.
All the different recipes youcan try.
And we're just gonna, this isgonna be an ode to this canned
tomato.
That would be an alternate titleto this episode.
People, I think falsely believethat tomatoes are more acidic
(02:08):
than they actually are.
I think it's because we eatthings that give us heartburn or
indigestion that are tomato.
We like greasy pizza or othertomato things.
But tomatoes are actually not asacidic as you might think.
And in fact, raspberries andmost fruit are more acidic than
tomatoes.
They are.
(02:29):
A pH of about 4.6, like 4.6 ish.
They have a lot of variabilitywithin just being a tomato,
there's a lot of variabilityfrom plant to plant, from
species to species or type totype.
There's a lot of variability andwhere they're grown, there's
just a lot more variability thanyou might expect.
(02:50):
They're right at the edge ofwhat is safe for water bath
canning.
So all tomato recipes shouldhave the addition of an
acidifying ingredient.
And if your recipe that youwanna use does not call for
citric acid, lemon juice, orvinegar, then you need to find
one that is similar.
(03:10):
It can be just like, or very,very similar to the recipe that
you love, but it needs to havethat addition of an acidifying
ingredient to be safe.
So Anna, before I talk about,the things that can reduce the
acidity of tomatoes, what do youwanna add to that?
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (03:26):
I am a massive seed saver A steward of
heirloom varieties of plants andvegetables.
And every year at the seed swappeople are like, oh, what
variety of tomato are yougetting?
Loves to have a rare variety oftomato, maybe one that's older.
Even though the varieties thatwe choose that are heirloom it
(03:48):
doesn't exactly mean thatthey're high Right?
There are things and conditionsthat make a tomato a low acid,
and that could be growingtomatoes in the shade, tomatoes
that have been cracked, bruised,or have blossom end rot that
creates a more low acid tomato.
And so when we say it'simportant that you acidify every
(04:10):
single tomato recipe that youhave, that's the reason why.
So you may have like a olderheirloom, high to tomato, but it
could be grown in a low acidway, if that makes sense.
So there are variables that weneed to keep in mind when we're
processing tomatoes the USDA andthe National Center for Home
(04:31):
Food Preservation has said thatwe need to acidify all, tomato
products.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_11 (04:36):
And because they're so popular,
that's why it's actually apretty serious issue that all of
you become converts, and sharewith all of your canning friends
that your tomato recipes need tobe acidified because the most
popular canned item in Americais canned tomatoes.
As Anna mentioned the growingconditions, which you may not be
(04:57):
able to control some of these ifyou grew them right, and some of
them you could control, but allof them you need to understand
can make the acidity lower andthe pH number higher, making it
less acidic.
So those conditions would belike decay or damage from
bruises, cracks, blossom anddrop, or insects.
Tomatoes that are grown in theshade or ripened in shorter
(05:20):
hours of daylight or ripened offthe vine as opposed to ripened
in direct sun on the vine orover ripened.
And then tomatoes attached todead vines.
That harvest as opposed totomatoes harvest from healthy
vines, decayed and damagedtomatoes, and those harvested
from frost, kilt, or dead vinesshould not be home canned.
(05:40):
So it's interesting to hear thatlong list because we think of
canning as being like.
Being super frugal and using upall the types of food products
that we have available to us.
And if you had some bruisedtomatoes or ones that were a
little over ripe, you mightthink, oh, I should can these up
(06:00):
and save them.
But what would be best isprobably choosing a different
method of preservation.
You could, like if it were meand I had these kind of soft,
pretty watery tomatoes, I wouldprobably.
Blitz them up and make like asimple sauce and freeze it in
the wide mouth jars that have afreeze line, I would freeze
(06:21):
that.
Or you could have'em whole, Imean they might be kind of soft.
I mean they, depending on thetomato, it might be really too
soft to can hole or to freezewhole, but you could freeze them
whole.
We talked about that in aprevious episode.
How you can freeze tomatoeswhole with the skin on and then
when you defrost them, the skinsjust slide right off.
If you just had a bunch of softtomatoes or end of season
tomatoes and you wanted topreserve them, that's amazing.
(06:44):
So as Anna mentioned, people arejust super into heirloom
varieties and the like, choosingthe right variety.
Instead of thinking about thevariety so much, maybe think
instead of Were these in fullsun?
Are they healthy?
Are they coming off of a healthyvine?
And then worry less about thevariety, because that seems to
(07:04):
matter less in terms of thefinal product when you're
preserving, don't you think,Anna?
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (07:10):
Yeah, I mean for me it's, it's about
the flavor and what it
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-202 (07:14):
Mm-hmm.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (07:14):
And if we're going to be acidifying
every single tomato
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-202 (07:18):
Mm-hmm.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (07:18):
like that, you just have to acidify
every tomato product is thefinal answer, what we recommend
as master food preservers.
Yeah.
So let's get into some recipesthat we would use for.
Or canned tomatoes because I hada friend who just recently went
through the master foodpreserver course, here in Utah,
(07:39):
and she said.
I learned the craziest thing.
And that is to learn how toutilize maybe one really good,
either diced tomatoes or tomatoAnd then use it in different
ways.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_11 (07:52):
mm.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (07:53):
we had our previous episode where we
talked about tomatoes and whatwe do with our tomatoes because
when you're first starting outcanning, you might have 10
different things you wanna make,right?
Enchilada sauce, and you wannamake ketchup and barbecue
Really.
Once you do it for a long time,you realize, I can just do this
one for me.
It's diced tomatoes or crushedAnd I can convert that into a
(08:15):
lot of different recipes.
Jenny, what about you?
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_111 (08:18):
So the one recipe I usually, I
would say is my go-to and Iwould say 80% of the tomatoes
that I can.
I use this one recipe, I thinkit was out of a ball blue book,
and it's on my blog, theDomestic Wildflower.
It's my easy tomato recipe, andthe only change I made to the
recipe is the fact that I blendthe tomatoes in the blender and
I don't peel them.
(08:39):
Which doesn't change the safetyof the recipe or the pH or
anything, and it's acidified ofcourse.
But it's just, to me it is avery useful pantry staple that
has a little garlic and a littleonion, right?
Because we know that garlic andonion are also alkaline veggies.
So we don't ever change theamount or increase, we never
(09:01):
increase the amount of thoseingredients when we're canning.
Right.
And it just has well, I'll justtell you the recipe.
It's 12 pounds of tomatoes, halfof a medium onion dice, two
teaspoons chopped garlic, twoteaspoons olive oil, and half a
teaspoon to every pint jar ofcitric acid.
(09:23):
So it's a very simple recipe.
And the only thing that I dothat is, I would say different
is that I blend the tomatoes.
Like either in a food chopsetting, like I remember that
was like, the button I wouldpush is like food chop on the
blender, just so that it'smostly a fairly smooth slurry,
but still like some chunks oftomatoes.
And then you skip the peelingstep.
(09:44):
And while you're blending yourtomatoes, you can be sauteing
your garlic and onion so thatthey're soft.
And then, you know, you processthat up.
I can just tell you the timereal quick so that we have a
complete recipe.
So you process 25 minutes at sealevel, and then of course you
add every five minutes for everya thousand feet.
You are canning above sea level,and those are for pint jars.
(10:07):
So anyway, that's on my blog ifyou wanna check that out.
But it's,
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (10:10):
Cool.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_1 (10:10):
it's a great little recipe that I can
over and over and over.
And what I like about it is thatit's.
It's like it's good enough byitself.
but you also can add, when youopen it up, it's blank enough
that you can add differentseasonings or flavors or
whatever to you, to it.
So to me it is a very versatiletomato recipe.
I do can other, like once a yearI'll can not once a year, but
(10:35):
like I'll can a couple otherbatches of other things that are
tomato.
Specific, and I'll talk aboutthose in a little bit, but
that's like my go-to.
That's my go-to tomato.
But you do a diced, is that whatyou do, Anna?
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (10:47):
Yep.
And it's really plain because Ido like to be able to add things
it's just diced tomatoes andit's in their own juice.
And I add citric acid and I alsoadd salt, but I do like the idea
of yours of adding some onionsand garlic I think that, that's
smart.
(11:08):
I think I'm gonna take a pagefrom your playbook and do that
this year.
I just went downstairs to grab acan of tomatoes and realized
that I'm close to being out morethis year.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (11:21):
well, yeah, it's the thing that you
can't really can too much of,honestly.
I mean, to me, tomatoes are sucha useful pantry staple.
I'm just probably like most momslike trying to think about how
many vegetables are my kidseating every day.
It's an easy added vegetable,like my favorite to do with that
tomato sauce recipe that Imentioned is if you buy those
filled pastas, the filledraviolis, I always try and get
(11:44):
those on sale when I see them.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (11:45):
Okay.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025 (11:46):
Either they have like chicken in them
or just cheese or whatever thatand the tomato sauce, that's a
pretty good dinner, right?
you could add to that, butthere's been plenty of nights in
my life that is what my kids andI had for supper.
My husband's like a big meateater.
He would want like a largeserving a meat with that.
But if it's just the kids and Iat home, then raviolis with
tomato sauce is absolutely whatwe would do sometimes.
(12:09):
But yeah, just a versatile, onceyou dial in the one that you
feel like is useful for yourfamily, can all of it can it?
As much as you can And you'llnever be Sorry,
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (12:20):
Yeah, because unlike other things, a
tomato sauce won't lose flavor.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (12:25):
Yeah.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (12:26):
bit of color over time, but the flavor
will still be good
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_1 (12:30):
Yes.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (12:30):
to say canned peaches
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (12:32):
Good.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (12:33):
shelf life on those is really good.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_111 (12:34):
So good that you said that because
I remember when my kids werereally small, I spent a ton of
time canning like fruit cups,which was great, right?
all the moms out there canned,the little jars with the diced
peaches and pears, and a few,cherry it's adorable.
You're gonna feel so good aboutyourself, it's great.
But the shelf life of those isso much shorter because peaches
(12:56):
just sort of dissolve.
it's still delicious and safe orwhatever.
It's great to do, but tomatosauce, that's gonna last forever
and ever.
Amen.
It's still be red.
It's still gonna be tasty.
It's like as good as the daywhen you can it, if not better.
So you can't go too hog wild.
I wouldn't say.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (13:18):
No.
So one of the recipes that Ilove to use for my diced
tomatoes came from friends of.
My in-laws, and they were from,I believe they were from Eastern
Europe somewhere.
And so we call it pea snackpasta.
what it is, is you boil about ahalf a pound of spaghetti
(13:43):
noodles and in the other pan anda saute pan, you're gonna do
onions, garlic olive oil.
And you get that really nice andsoft, you cook it on medium, you
don't wanna cook it on high.
Then you add a half a cup or ahandful of fresh basil and you
throw it in the pan then youdrain your can of, diced
(14:07):
tomatoes.
And then you put the tomatoes inand then you add your cooked
pasta to that.
And it's just like an easy.
I say one pan, but it's notreally'cause you have to cook
the pasta in another pot.
You that all around, get all ofthat nice olive oil coating
your, spaghetti noodles.
And then I add a cup of Parmesancheese and half a cup of feta.
(14:30):
If I don't know what to cookthat night, that's what I cook.
And I usually have everything onhand for that.
So it's pretty easy.
That's one of my favorite waysto use diced tomatoes.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_1 (14:42):
That sounds delicious.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (14:44):
ways.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25- (14:44):
Delicious.
Such a great tip.
I like that.
If you have a jar of tomatosauce, like you could use it,
um, I would say like fullstrength, right?
Like just out of the jar, pourit into the sauce, pan, warm it
up, and then use that as a pastasauce.
Or I can take like, let's sayhalf a jar and then put it on
low and simmer it.
(15:06):
And then that can be a reallygreat pizza sauce, which.
I mean, yeah, you would add someoregano, you would add some
thyme, you would add, whateverherbs you have on hand.
Definitely check out our episodeabout planting and preserving
herbs for ideas, for herbs, but,um, that it's like an easy, what
is the right word?
It's not too thick, it's not toothin.
(15:26):
It's just right.
Like you can, you could thin itout if you needed to.
You could thicken it up prettyeasily and in, in the amount of
time that you're cooking out allthe other things.
I feel like it's also useful inthat way.
Is now the time to talk aboutwhen we wanna add herbs to
canned tomato products.
Anna, what happens to thatdelicious basil flavor?
What happens if you were to addlike a handful of basil to your
(15:48):
pasta and you, or excuse me,your pasta sauce, and then you
can it.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (15:53):
Yes.
So over time, those herbs willamplify in flavor.
So if you wanna add some herbs,just make sure to use a light
And see how it goes.
And then the next year maybe youcan adjust that.
But I've found that especiallyfresh herbs.
Along with dried herbs, theyjust seem to amplify when
(16:13):
they're in a jar for an extendedperiod of time, It might be too
strong.
So just use a light hand whenyou're doing herbs in your
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025 (16:22):
That's a great tip.
Especially if you're pressurecanning.
Let's say you were canning atomato like a marinara sauce and
you were pressure canning it.
All those tomato recipes arealso acidified, even though
you're pressure canning.
So bear that in mind.
I felt like adding green, likemostly basal, right?
I felt like it was, I mean,there was some flavor, but.
(16:46):
They just kind of like theleaves are almost disappear and
turn into like smudge at thebottom of the jar.
And I felt like that basilwould've been much better.
It would've been much moredelicious, just eaten fresh on a
Capri salad, or just you couldmake a pesto and store that in
the fridge and then add thatthere's a, I feel like it was
just wasted in the canningprocess.
(17:09):
So while an herb like Rosemarygets certainly intensified and
you should be.
Cautious in terms of just don'tadd more than follow a recipe
and then maybe even ratchet backwith something like rosemary.
But like leafy greens.
Like basil, I feel like I'mlike, that was a waste of a lot
of basil.
Like you just don't taste it anddoesn't look any better.
(17:31):
It looks worse.
There's no pretty green flex.
Same with parsley?
No, pretty green flex.
Same with canned salsa.
Same with, yeah.
No.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (17:39):
say the same.
no cilantro,
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (17:42):
Yeah, cilantro evaporates.
There's nothing left.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (17:47):
I forgot about that.
Yeah, those tender herbs tend tojust disappear,
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (17:51):
Yeah.
So for a tender herb, I wouldjust add them at the reheat or
add them when you're cookingthem.
I wouldn't waste them canningthem because they just taste
like nothing.
What other canning recipes withtomatoes do you love besides
your standard basic one?
Anna?
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (18:07):
So I love using my diced tomatoes as
an ingredient.
Like I can throw together a tacosoup really quickly with fresh
ground beef and then drain itand then add all of my canned
stuff like canned corn andtomatoes and beans.
All of these things I canduring, late fall and early
winter.
(18:28):
And that's a really easy way touse your canned food.
I also make a lot of tomato soupand pizza.
And you use your tomato sauceand I actually just drain my can
of diced tomatoes.
And then I just add a little bitof basil maybe.
But I got that idea when we werein Italy and I was noticing that
(18:51):
the tomato sauces weren't reallya thick sauce and they weren't
flavored with herbs really.
And it was so surprising to me'cause it was just tomatoes and
it just tasted so good.
And I was like, I wonder if Icould do that with my canned
tomatoes.
And it tasted phenomenal.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (19:08):
Yeah.
Kind of wonder if we haven't.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (19:12):
using good tomatoes,
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (19:13):
Well, yeah, that's what I'm gonna say.
I think that we've becomeaccustomed to churching up the
tomato sauce with a lot of herbsand a lot of other ingredients
because potentially we weren'tusing delicious tomatoes.
So if you are getting homegrowntomatoes from somebody,
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (19:29):
yeah.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_1116 (19:30):
I would challenge you to just keep
it plain or keep it pretty basicwith the recipe and see if you
don't Just love that strongtomato flavor.
All on its own.
I was gonna mention one strangelittle recipe that I love to
can, one batch of every year orevery other year is tomato jam.
It's not like a jam jam, it'scalled jam.
(19:50):
It should be called somethingelse.
But a weird tomato jam is so, Iwould call it like close to a
dried tomato flavor or like a.
Dried tomato spread.
You don't use dried tomatoes,but like it's thickened
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (20:05):
Okay.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025 (20:07):
Anna's hesitant.
I can tell by your face.
You're like, Ew, gross.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (20:10):
I'm nervous about it.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_1116 (20:11):
I love tomato jam.
Just having a little bit on handof just a rich punch of tomato.
It's so good.
It's really good.
if you choose that with let'ssay goat cheese on top of pasta,
or you eat it with cream cheeseon an everything bagel it's more
like a sauce and not a jam.
I it when I demonstrated at fiveMary's, with a big group of
(20:35):
campers.
We all made this tomato jam andeverybody loved it.
So it's six pounds of tomatoes,salt, pepper, garlic, balsamic
vinegar, and dry white wine.
And that's also on my blog, butit's like it's very dark in
color.
It looks kinda like the color ofbarbecue sauce and it's that
balsamic vinegar taste.
It is really, really good guys.
(20:57):
If you want like a weirddifferent, something other than
normal tomato sauce, I think itis very handy to have a little
Be very good on a charcuterieboard or with crispy fried
things, it's very tasty.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (21:10):
I think this is gonna be the year
that I try it.
I keep putting it off'cause itsounds so disgusting to
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (21:16):
Well, there's no,
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (21:18):
I don't know.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-202 (21:19):
there's only a little bit of sugar.
It's like one and a half cups ofsugar.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (21:23):
I'm just gonna do it.
I'm gonna see how it is.
So I have an issue with tomatoesanyway, when I was a kid, my
parents made me eat.
A bowl of tomato soup and theywouldn't let me leave the table
until I ate it.
And it was so horrible.
And I think I ended up throwingit up.
(21:45):
And so now I just reallystruggle eating tomato sauce or
like super strong tomato
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_11 (21:51):
Oh.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (21:52):
I worry that this balsamic tomato
thing is going to make me.
Reminiscent of that horrible,horrible time.
But I also know that as you age,your taste can change and you
can, like things that you didn'tlike previously.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_1 (22:09):
It's fine if it's not for you, but if
you like both walnut vinegar andyou like tomatoes, those are the
flavors in the jam, and I thinkit's so good.
It's so wild.
But, do you, can any, likeenchilada sauce or do you, can
any other little tomatoeyproducts that are just not your
basics?
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (22:24):
No, I don't.
We don't really like, anenchilada Like when I do my
chicken enchiladas, I simmer iton the stove top with some
chicken broth, and then I dip myfried corn tortillas in it and
then roll it with my filling.
no, I don't know.
I just don't do that.
Enchilada sauce.
I do a ton of salsa.
I do a lot of diced tomatoes,that's about it.
(22:49):
I did find today I wasdownstairs in my pantry looking
for some diced tomatoes and Ifound a quart jar of tomato soup
that I had canned from 2020 andI was like, oh, I should
probably give this to one of mykids who likes tomato soup
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (23:07):
Yeah.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (23:07):
not me.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_1116 (23:09):
I think I should can tomato soup
because I actually really liketomato soup.
Another recipe that you guyscould try is marinara sauce.
So then you're really cooking inadvance, you're having your meat
cooked.
Combined with your tomatoproduct, and it's all canned
together in a pressure cannerbecause you're definitely low
acid at that point, right?
(23:30):
You're a hundred percent in thelow acid category, which
requires the use of a pressurecanner.
So I have a recipe in my book,the Pressure Canon Cookbook, but
you also, there's lots of goodrecipes on, the Cooperative
extension offices, or theNational Center for Home Food
Preservation, marinara sauce.
I feel like that's next level interms of an entire meal in a
jar.
other than the pasta, the wholething is ready for you and it's
(23:53):
already cooked.
So, those can be really smart,canned ahead for busy nights.
My son is gonna start footballthis season and I'm gonna be
driving to the faraway town, notmy close town, but my faraway
town.
It's been in my mind that oncetomatoes come on, I should
probably can some of that sothat I can really up my meal
(24:15):
prep, my slow food meal prepgame.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (24:18):
Yeah.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_11 (24:18):
But yeah, that might be a tomato
recipe for you to check out ifthat's your season of life, to
have all like jurors of that onhand.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (24:27):
I think that episode is a great
idea.
You can use your tomatoes to do,soups in a jar.
I think you cover that in yourpressure cannon cookbook, right?
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (24:36):
Yeah, I do.
And actually most of my soupsare more like stews, but that's
just is mostly like what myhusband likes.
But there are lots of testedsoup recipes.
Maybe now is a good time tomention that many soups that we
love have dairy in them.
And you can find good recipesthat are tested that will not,
(24:56):
none of the tested recipes willhave dairy, but you can just add
a splash of cream when you heatit up.
So don't.
Continue your search forsomething you're not gonna find.
You are not gonna find a testedpressure canning recipe or soup
recipe that has cream.
Or cheese or the Parmesan andnone of that, none of those
tasty ingredients.
You're not gonna have that.
But, that doesn't mean you can'tadd that at the reheat and you
(25:17):
have to reheat it anyway.
You know what I mean?
you're gonna have a sauce pan onthe stove heating it up.
So at that point, that's whenyou can pour in a swirl of
cream.
And the cheese.
I love cheese.
Add the cheese then,
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (25:28):
heck yeah.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025 (25:28):
that's actually, I wish that there was
more testing or test any testingon like nut milks.
Not that I'm a big nut milk fan,but it would be cool if we knew
that those were safe to can,which we do not know.
Okay.
Do not.
Can almond milk right now guys?
No oat milk.
No pecans.
No nuts.
(25:48):
No nut milk.
It would be cool because thenyou would be closer to that
being like, just the only thingyou need is that jar of canned
food.
But we don't know that yet.
If I had unlimited funds, Iwould fund the testing myself,
but that's not the case.
But yeah, that'd be, that's likethe next thing you could be
thinking about is canningtomatoes in more like meal ready
situations.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (26:08):
Yeah.
pressure canning may seemdaunting, but once you
understand it, once you get thelogistics of how to do it, it's
like the other piece of thepuzzle for processing low acid
foods.
And for those of you that don'tknow, Jenny does have.
A cookbook that shepainstakingly wrote called The
Pressure Canning Cookbook, andit's so great.
(26:29):
The recipes in there are sofabulous and it's written really
well.
And you have not checked thatout, you can purchase it on
Amazon.
And we will also have link belowfor that
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (26:40):
Well, thank you.
And by painstakingly we mean allthe recipes are based on.
Tested recipes so that it's, youknow, it's safe.
And I sadly did not have anycream recipes'cause that's,
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (26:51):
Yes,
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_11 (26:51):
Uh, thank you for that, Anna.
If you're interested in learningabout pressure canning, go back
to season one.
We have several episodes allabout pressure canning, and
we'll walk you through it.
So next time you're like on adrive or washing the dishes,
tune in to season one and listento those pressure canning
episodes.
That will be a perfect primer.
To just get your, toes wet andfigure out, all the things,
(27:13):
pressure canning.
It's really helpful to get anidea of what that's all about,
because you're right, it does,it unlocks a whole nother set of
food preservation that's reallylike next level in terms of the
potential of how handy that willbe and how useful for your
pantry, useful for your mealprep, useful for your life.
Hopefully this episode was likean ode to the tomato for you
(27:35):
guys.
It gave you some good ideas forrecipes you wanna try out.
Before we end, I wanted tomention one other tomato thing.
Hot sauce is a tomato-basedrecipe that many people love to
can, and that's great.
It just as always, with everytomato recipe, it's so important
that you use a tested recipebecause obviously with the
(27:56):
tomatoes you're adding peppersand or onions and or garlic, and
all of those ingredients are lowacid.
So it's super important youfollow carefully.
A tested recipe because it'sgoing to have probably more than
one acidifying ingredients,probably gonna have vinegar and
probably citric acid.
So, um.
That's another category oftomato recipes that are awesome.
(28:17):
I think they're so giftable,like everybody would love to get
a can of or a jar of your cannedhot sauce, right?
But just be absolutely certainyou're following closely a
tested recipe and don't veer offfrom that.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (28:28):
Yeah.
Thanks so much, Jenny.
That was, I think that we cannotspecify enough that you have to
follow a tested recipe
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025_ (28:38):
Yeah.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (28:38):
this, these tomato products because
they really are on that line ofunsafe safe for water, bath,
canning, and it's just reallyimportant that you acidify every
single tomato product that youdo.
jenny-gomes_1_06-25-2025 (28:51):
That's your take home point, guys.
Share it with a friend.
anna_2_06-25-2025_121651 (28:56):
All right.
Thanks so much everyone forjoining the Perfectly Preserved
podcast.
We love having you here.
If you found this episodehelpful, please share it with a
friend, and as always, subscribeon YouTube or rate and review
our podcast where you listen toyour podcasts.
Thanks everyone, and we'll talkto you next
That's our show.
(29:17):
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(29:39):
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