Basil & Tomato Concentrate {Carla Tomasi’s Basil Bomb}

October 10, 2017

Basil Bomb Recipe | In Jennie's Kitchen

Admittedly, this is one of those 11th hour recipes I’m sharing today (and if we’re being honest, it’s more a tip than a recipe). Just about two weeks ago Carla Tomasi posted a photo of this basil bomb on Instagram. I was immediately intrigued having gone crazy with basil insecurities, and over-planting it this year. I was curious for ideas to preserve it beyond pesto and freezing.

A few days later I picked up some juliet tomato seconds at the farm stand. While I promised myself there would be no more canning, this type of preserving wasn’t completely off the table. The smaller amount would mean I could hot water bath can them on the stove top, and not lug the big electric canner back up from the basement.

Carla used a cooked down tomato passata. I went with my recipe for these slow roasted tomatoes, omitting the thyme, knowing it would have the same concentrated tomato effect. I actually made this basil bomb in two parts, having cooked the tomatoes, then storing them in the fridge for a few days until I could get into the garden to harvest the basil. I also ran the tomatoes through my hand cranked food mill to create a puree, which by the way tasted heavenly.

In terms of ratios, since I’m not writing this as a formal recipe, I went with a 2:1 mix of basil:roasted tomato concentrate, and brought it all together in a small pot on the stove for a quick boil, then 20 minute simmer. Once I pulled it off the heat, I stirred in a few squeezes of fresh lemon juice to make sure the pH levels were boosted. I promise you won’t taste the lemon, but the added acid, along with the salt from roasting the tomatoes makes sure it stays shelf stable once canned. Look on canned tomatoes at the supermarket, and you’ll see citric acid is a common ingredient—that’s basically the job lemon juice does here.

As for the hot water bath, I gave them 20 minutes on the stove top. The flavor is intensely basilicious (new word?), and I’m excited to have these jars to dip into long until next summer (even though it doesn’t feel like this summer is done with us yet, temperature-wise).