Tomato Juice "Stock"

I promised I'd tell you what to do with your leftover tomato "guts" that came out of all those tomatoes as we were prepping to crush them.  I'm sure you were tempted to toss them out.  After all, they do look kind of gross.  It may not look like much at first, but it's definitely worth saving ...and look how pretty they are now in these little jars!


If you strain the juice it can be made into your own V8 type concoction.  I'm not really a fan of V8, but I do like to use tomatoes to add flavor to soups or to cook rice.  


This tomato juice "stock" can be frozen in an ice cube tray and then transferred to a freezer bag, or you can jar it and keep it handy for the next time you want to add some additional flavor to your favorite soup.


Here are the directions...

Tomato Juice "Stock"

You'll need:

Leftover tomato "guts"

1 Tbsp of lemon juice for each jar (if you plan to jar and process)

pinch of salt for each jar (if you plan to jar and process)

Begin by straining the "guts" over a medium sized pot.

Use a wooden spoon to push all the liquid through the strainer.

Then just bring the juice to a gentle boil.  You're basically just trying to cook off some of the liquid, leaving behind a more concentrated juice.  This would be a good time to spice it up a bit if you'd like to add additional flavor.  I want my "stock" to be as versatile as possible, so I'm going to add any spice.  Allow the juice to gently boil about 10 minutes -- or until it looks good to you.  

When you get it the way you like it, you could freeze it or preserve it in jars. If you plan to freeze it, I recommend using an ice cube tray and then transferring the frozen cubes to a plastic freezer bag.  Later you can just pop a frozen tomato cube into recipe for a shot of extra flavor.

Since I have almost no freezer storage space, I transferred my juice stock to prepared half pint jars and processed them for 20 minutes.

Here's a tip I discovered for tightening the lid on a jar filled with HOT liquid.  I found that these silicon jar openers work very well to help you close the jar.  Ironic.  The silicon helped me to grip the hot jar, while keeping my hand cool.  I could then use my right hand to tighten the lid.  Brilliant!