Home Made Tomato Juice

It’s no secret that I love tomato juice, and am on a quest to find the best one. So far Princes, Libby’s  and Lidl own brand come out on top. I found this recipe in a book published by Marks & Spencer in 1979. The photos in the book are very Delia Smith. Anyway we have the last of this year’s tomatoes and they are so ripe that I don’t think I could slice them, so I’m having a go.

1 1/2kg very ripe tomatoes

2 onions, chopped

8 mint leaves

1tbsp sugar

1tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1.2l water

Grated rind and juice of 2 lemons

[My adjustments to the above were to suit my own taste so I used half the sugar and doubled the salt and pepper. I couldn’t resist a shake of Tabasco. Next time I might add a stick of celery.]

The tomatoes need to be almost too ripe to use in a salad. The lemons should be juicy, with the grated rind picking up no pith. The pepper needs to be powder fine and the salt must be the best you can get.

Too easy. Quarter the tomatoes and put them in a pan with everything except the lemon juice. Normally “not from concentrate” is a good sign on a carton of fruit juice, but tomatoes benefit from the strengthening of flavour from losing some water. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Pour into a blender and whizz until smooth. Then sieve it with the finest gauge sieve you have. Hopefully this now resembles tomato juice as we know it. Add the lemon juice to sharpen it up and check that you’re happy with the salt and pepper. Bring it back up to the boil and seal in sterilised bottles.

The recipe doesn’t say how long this keeps, so once cool, I am keeping it in the fridge.

Once opened, it needs to be used (and needs a shake), which is the boy’s excuse to make a jug of bloody mary. I had no idea he had a bottle of Stolichnaya in the freezer.

The book cost me £1.49 – The 1979 equivalent of 30p, so it was a bargain in anyone’s money. The illustration shows a jug of this with a goblet garnished with a mint sprig – but no!