Tasty Tomato Jam

February is apparently the month for pizza making. Seemed like every time I checked my reader, someone had posted something about pizza. With a month’s worth of inspiration, I had pizza on the brain, so we made pizzas on Sunday night. And they were good, but I don’t really want to talk about pizzas, per se. Instead I’m going to talk about tomato jam, which is what we used instead of traditional pizza sauce.



I’ve had versions that are overly sweet and didn’t care much for them. In my opinion, the perfect tomato jam is both sweet and sour. I can’t recall ever seeing tomato jam in stores (although I’ve never really looked). Luckily, it’s not difficult to make but does require about an hour's time (mostly passive). But it’s time well spent because this stuff is delicious.

Tomato Jam with Sun-dried Tomatoes
Makes about 2 cups

• 1 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 to 5 tbs sugar, to taste
  
• 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 to 3 tbs red wine vinegar
• ½ cup water
• ½ to 1 tsp kosher salt, to taste
• 3 or 4 sprigs thyme (optional)

In a medium pot, sauté the sun-dried tomatoes with the shallot and garlic over medium-low heat until the shallot is soft, about 8 to 10 minutes. Sun-dried tomatoes burn pretty easily, so don’t crank up the heat and stir it occasionally. Add the remaining ingredients and bring it up to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Allow the mixture to simmer covered for ½ hour. Remove the lid and turn up the heat a little to get the liquid to evaporate off faster. Cook until the mixture reaches the consistency of jam. Store in a clean, airtight container in the fridge for up to 1week. This is also perfect for canning, if you are experienced with that sort of thing.

I like to use this jam for pizza, on top of poached or over-medium eggs, in turkey or roast beef sandwiches, on crostini with a slice of hard sheep’s milk cheese, on the side served with grilled or roasted meats…the possibilities are endless!