Tomato juice: how to make it

Name: Tomato juice: how to make it
Ingredients: 2 kg tomatoes; 20 g non-iodized pickling salt

Sauces - Tomato juice: how to make it by Fabia P. - Recipia

Making tomato juice mostly comes down to how well the flesh softens before you strain it. With non-iodized salt, homemade juice comes out smooth, red and thick enough for cooking or drinking cold. I choose tomatoes that ripen evenly and check that there’s no green around the stem ends. Preparation: 20 minutes. Cooking: 40 minutes. Total time: 60 minutes. Servings: 6. Approximately 60 kcal and 3 g protein per serving.

Ingredients

2 kg tomatoes
20 g non-iodized pickling salt

Preparation

1. Wash the tomatoes, remove the stems and cut them into pieces. 2. Put them in a large pot and boil over medium heat for 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the flesh softens and starts to break down. 3. Pass the tomatoes through a sieve, pressing the flesh with a ladle to get as much juice as possible. 4. Return the juice to the pot, add the non-iodized salt and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring, until it thickens slightly.

Notes

At the table, you can serve it with toast; texture-wise, it falls somewhere between a drinkable tomato purée and a clear soup. Meaty tomatoes make a fuller juice, while very juicy ones leave more liquid and need a longer reduction. If the flesh seems watery after straining, leave it over low heat until the mark left by a spoon stays on the surface for a moment. Choose tomatoes that ripen evenly; green patches near the stem can give the juice a grassy taste that cooking won’t fix. A fine-mesh sieve also catches the small seeds, and a ladle helps you press the flesh without pushing the skins through. Let the juice cool before refrigerating it, and keep it in a clean, covered container for up to 3 days. To save it for later, freeze it in small portions and leave a little space in the container, since the liquid expands. If you’re making a smaller batch, keep the ratio of 10 g salt to 1 kg tomatoes.