The name came when I was first making this mixture. I was putting my finished product into freezer bags and was about to label it and realized I didn’t really know what to call it. It’s thick, pasty, coarsely chopped tomato, onions, garlic and basil. My quick thinking son said “how about tomato jazz, cause it’s tomatoes and all that jazz.” Perfect!
Here’s how I make tomato jazz:
I use Roma tomatoes because they’re not as juicy and dry better in the oven.
I slice them so they’ll lay flat on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, drizzle with a little olive oil, sprinkle with coarse salt and put them in a 250 degree oven for about 8-10 hours. Sometime during that time I chop a couple of onions and a head of garlic and toss that over top.
After the long time in the oven, it looks about like this. Let it cool then put tray and all into the freezer for a couple of hours. This makes it easier to chop.
When everything is frozen solid, scrape into the food processor, add several basil leaves and pulse into a coarse mixture. Spoon the mixture into freezer bags, return to freezer, laying flat.
You’ll have a very rich sauce that works great for soups, sauces and pizzas. They’re so quick to pull out for a quick meal because they’ll thaw quickly. You can use it on bread for bruschetta, add a big helping to tomato sauce to “jazz” it up, or meatloaf, stew or whatever else you can think of.
You always give me so many great ideas!
Posted by: Mary bowman | 08/10/2012 at 07:49 PM