For those of us who garden and grow tomatoes, there often comes a point in the summer tomato growing season in which the bounty greatly exceeds one’s ability to consume it, in its regular tomato form.
If you find yourself in this position, and you love tomato juice, V8, Bloody or Virgin Mary’s, I highly recommend making your own tomato juice.
My father announced the other day that he was going to make some tomato juice with some of the garden tomatoes that were overflowing our kitchen counter and I thought nothing of it.
But after one taste, wow! This is how V8 should taste.
Recipe adapted from Gourmet Magazine, who got it from Chef Brill Williams of The Inn at Sawmill Farm in West Dover, Vermont.
Homemade Tomato Juice Recipe
PrintSome tomatoes are sweeter than others, depending on their ripeness and the variety of tomato. Use the ripest tomatoes you can. Added sugar will balance the natural acidity of the tomatoes, use more or less to taste. Tabasco hot sauce is also to taste, depending on your desired level of spiciness.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds very ripe garden tomatoes, cored, roughly chopped
- 1 1/4 cups chopped celery with leaves
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 2 Tbsp sugar (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pinch black pepper
- A couple shakes of Tabasco sauce, about 6-8 drops (to taste)
Method
1 Put all ingredients into a large non-reactive pot (use stainless steel, not aluminum). Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until mixture is completely soupy, about 25 minutes.
2 Force mixture through a sieve, chinoise,
Store covered and chilled. Will last for about 1 week in the refrigerator.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
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Is it okay if you don’t cook?
Awww, c’mon! Can’t I put in just a little jalapeño and cilantro? Please, just a little. I’m sure it’s going to give it just a little south-of-the-border flavor. What do you think?
Really good it’s almost like a vegetable drink. I froze it in small containers last year. Have you ever froze it in quart or pint size containers? Another question, if you put lemon juice in it could you can it without changing the taste?
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The reason tomato juice doesn’t taste like V8 is because it’s not. V8 is vegetable juice not tomato juice. ;)
To anyone who wants to blend this I use a Vita-mix I take all the ingredients and I put it in a blender and depending how much tomatoes and whatever I’m using add additional water and when it’s all Blended real nice I put in a big pot and cook it for about 15 minutes no sense in wasting all that good tomato puree that you’ll leave in a strainer and it comes out just fine just tweak it to the way you like it to taste and make sure you write everything down so you can create your own V8 or tomato juice.
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