San Marzano Tomatoes

San Marzano tomatoes were my biggest discovery and surprise in my garden this year. It is a paste tomato that is considered in foodie circles as the best variety grown for making sauce or paste and it has a fanatical following judging by articles and blogs on the Net. Jason L Morrow even started blog dedicated to this gem called, what else, San Marzano Tomato Blog. What an incredible article! It is worth reading to the end. It even has a recipes for sauces etc.
Anyway, I am hooked and it is one variety that I will grow every year from now on. I have planted only 2 seedlings that I started indoors from seeds bought from Thompson  & Morgan seed company. Problem is/was that packet had 300 seeds! Three Hundred Seeds!!! That’s for a farm and not a hobby gardener like me. It is even too many to give away. Until now I have harvested about 18Lb from both plants and I still have at least 6 weeks of growing season left. My freezer will be full of bags with sauces!

Here is a picture story of San Marzano tomatoes from harvest to freezer.

After quartering  7 pounds of  tomatoes for food processor there was hardly any juice on cutting board, that’s how dry they are, no need for hours of reduction on the stove.

This is straight from Cuisinart, check how thick the sauce is already.

The sauce after 45 minutes of simmer. No rapid boil is needed since tomatoes do not have much water.

After the simmer I used food mill fitted with smallest holes plate to remove skin and seeds.

All done in ONE hour!  I freeze the sauce in large freezer bags and just break apart small piece I need for whatever I cook.