Homemade Tomato Juice

School started, temperatures were in the 60s in Ohio so it definitely feels like fall. Our garden tomatoes reached the point where they are all ripe but definitely more than what we can consume. So, what better use than making some tomato juice.

The nice thing about this easy recipe is that you can use any quantity of tomatoes you want, so if you have some from your garden or you can find them at the farmers market don’t hesitate to buy the ripest ones and make some delicious homemade tomato juice. Smaller quantities can be stored in the fridge, otherwise you can preserve it.

I love drinking tomato juice with some celery in the morning. Also we use this for cooking and especially as the base for tomato soup.

Ingredients:

tomatoes
salt, pepper, olive oil
sugar

Directions:

Wash and cut the tomatoes in 4; Set them in a sheet pan
Sprinkle salt, pepper and olive oil on top
Preheat oven and Broil at 400F for about 30-40 minutes (until they start forming a crust)
Remove from oven and using a wooden spoon run the tomatoes through a strainer to remove skin and seeds (you can also use a food mill)
Add one tablespoon of sugar for each half a gallon of tomato juice and boil the juice over medium heat until it reaches the desired thickness
If you want to can the juice – wash bottles (or jars) and lids, preheat oven at 275 F and place the clean bottles inside without the lids for about 10 minutes – carefully remove the hot bottles from the oven, and pour the hot tomato juice – close the bottles or jars ( they are very hot so be careful handling them) – cover them with a blanket and leave them cool for about 24-48 hours