Healthy Fuel: It’s raining tomatoes, hallelujah!

BeInkandescent Healthy Fuel Series: August 2020 —”It’s August: The time of year when we reap the benefits of the summer’s labors,” explains our Healthy Fuel series gardening expert Hilary Schwab, creator of the EdibleGardenGirl.com. “After planting, watering, weeding, and mulching, it is time to harvest the tomatoes. A few tomatoes ripen at a time in the mid-summer, but as August comes to a close, more and more are ready every day.”

Scroll down to learn more about this favorite fruity vegetable by DC-based photographer!


By Hilary Schwab

After the harvest: Once you have gotten your fill of the tasty red globes and the tomatoes are sitting on the kitchen counter, what do you do with them? If they sit too long, they will rot. All of the hard work will be wasted. My tip this week for you is to freeze the tomatoes for making tomato sauce after all the tomato plants have stopped producing for the season.

Roma tomatoes: These pear-shaped and oval and come in different varieties. They work best for tomato sauce due to their low moisture content, but you can use any tomatoes in the sauce. I wash and core the tomatoes and put them in freezer bags as they pile up on my counter. Once the season is over, I will make up a batch of tomato sauce to enjoy the fruits of my labor all winter.

Check back in a month for my tomato sauce recipe. For now, enjoy those ripe, juicy tomatoes in your sandwiches and salads.

Photo by Hilary Schwab, EdibleGardenGirl.com

Homemade Tomato Sauce

While the fresh tomatoes from my garden are just a memory, the frozen fruit in my freezer is calling me to make my annual tomato sauce.

Making tomato sauce is a project. I usually wait until a slow work week to start the process. It is several steps long but worth the effort.

  • Step 1: Defrost the frozen tomatoes. Once they are mostly defrosted, you can easily peel the skin off the tomatoes with your hands.
  • Step 2: Place tomatoes in small batches in a food mill and mill the fruit’s pulp through.
  • Step 3: Combine garlic, onions, and olive oil in a mini food processor and process into a thick mixture. Add mixture to 2 Tablespoons olive oil heated in a large pot. Sauté on medium/low until translucent, about 10 minutes.
  • Step 4: Add the milled tomatoes and tomato paste to the mixture in the pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat.
  • Step 5: Simmer the sauce for a few hours uncovered, until desired consistency. Add fresh or dried herbs (oregano, basil, thyme) and salt and pepper to taste.

Freeze sauce in portions in glass or plastic containers. The frozen sauce will last in your freezer for 3-4 months, just in time to start thinking about planting next year’s crop of tomatoes.

Hilary’s Favorite Tomato Sauce Recipe                           

What you’ll need:

  • 5 full gallon freezer bags of frozen tomatoes
  • 4 large garlic cloves peeled
  • 1 onion loosely chopped
  • 4 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 cans tomato paste (6oz)
  • 1 Tablespoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • ¼ cup fresh herb mix (basil, oregano, thyme) or 1 teaspoon each dried

Here’s how: 

  1. Defrost the frozen tomatoes. Once they are mostly defrosted, you can easily peel the skin off the tomatoes with your hands.
  2. Place tomatoes in small batches in a food mill and mill the pulp of the fruit through.
  3. Combine garlic, onions, and olive oil in a mini food processor and process into a thick mixture. Add mixture to 4 Tablespoons olive oil heated in a large pot. Sauté on medium/low until translucent, about 10 minutes.
  4. Add the milled tomatoes and tomato paste to the mixture in the pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat.
  5. Simmer the sauce for a few hours uncovered, until desired consistency. Add fresh or dried herbs (oregano, basil, thyme) and salt and pepper to taste.