Kitchen Tip Tuesday: soup base

A few weeks ago I was given some tomatoes and parsley by some friends. It wasn't enough to do anything significant with but I decided I try to make some sort of "sauce" and put it in jars to freeze. It was a complete experiment on my part as I'm not known for being able to "create" and original of anything and I always need a recipe. I figured it could always be used as an addition to my spaghetti sauce, and not just a sauce itself (it was too thin). Yesterday I wanted to make a turkey vegetable soup and realized I had no canned tomatoes or tomatoe sauce which I love to use as part of a base. Then I remembered the jars of "sauce" I had froze a few weeks back. Why not see how they turned out? I was a bit paranoid. I thawed a jar and into the pot it went. I was very pleasantly surprised. It gave the soup just the right flavor.

I first put the tomatoes in boiling water to loosen the skins. Then I removed the skins and roughly chopped the tomatoes putting them in a soup pot.

Other ingredients: Parsley, red pepper, garlic, onion and Italian seasoning. Into the pot it goes to simmer for awhile (I don't know how long it took). Once it was done I put it into clean, hot jars. Once they cooled a bit, I put them in the freezer.

Come soup day, I added one jar to my pan of soup along with some chicken broth. I needed very few other seasonings. This is a quick way to use up leftover veggies that maybe are on the verge of going bad and a great way to have a healthier soup base with less sodium than canned sauces.

Check out more tips at Kitchen Tip Tuesday. Tune in later today when I hope to post a yummy Enchilada recipe.

With Joy UNquenchable,