Transforming tomato puree

John and I scored big this morning when I picked up our 1/4 of a beef from my parents.

Big deal, guys. This is a really, really big deal. I don't remember the last time I ate red meat that wasn't ordered from a restaurant. And forget about buying beef from the store - I have no idea even what to look for, let alone trust whatever carcinogens or chemicals that have been implanted into the meat.

So, we waited. And waited. And waited for our 1/4 of a beef to be processed.

Now our cup deep freezer runneth over.

(But that's not all beef you're lookin' at - we have about a 1/4 of a hog in there, too.)

In order to fit all of our beef in the deep freeze I had to do some intense rearranging. In the process I found some plain 'ole tomato puree from August. I remember having a last harvest from my tomatoes at the end of summer and finding no time to process them appropriately, so I just pureed them and froze 'em.

Since I have zero freezer space, I transformed the plain tomato puree into our favorite pasta sauce, using the recipe from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, a great read by Barbara Kingsolver- -

I managed to get 6 pints out of all that tomato puree. I could have stretched it to 8 pints, but I simmered the sauce down to a thicker consistency so I could use it in more dishes - especially as pizza sauce. 

Give 'er a shot for yourself this summer when you have your own tomatoes.

Or in the middle of February when you have to free up some freezer space.