by Texas Homesteader ~
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When our garden is producing extremely well I like to preserve as much as I can from it. Oftentimes our tomatoes are producing like GANGBUSTERS and I’m making Tomato Sauce and Pasta Sauce from it Sometimes I dehydrate them into Tomato Powder or just Dried Diced Tomatoes to drop into my wintertime simmering soups.
But one of my favorite ways to preserve tomatoes is by dehydrating it into tomato leather. That way I can roll it out directly on top of my pizza crust & just start piling on the toppings. The cooking process and the moisture in the toppings rehydrates the leather for me.
But I didn’t get many tomatoes this year so I find myself purchasing pasta sauce until I can make it myself again. (sigh…) But recently I had leftover pasta sauce and wondered what to do with it. Since we’ve recently discovered tortilla pizzas I decided to make some tortilla-sized tomato leather!
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Preparing The Leftover Pasta Sauce
The pasta sauce I had was chunky. So I took my stick blender and whirred it until it was smooth.
Then I took a 1/4 cup of sauce and plopped it onto my *Excalibur dehydrator trays that had been lined with non-stick *dehydrator drying sheets. I used the back of the measuring cup and smoothed the sauce into a circle.
A quarter cup made my circles about 5.5″ wide which is what I wanted for my tortillas. I smoothed it to about about 1/8″ thick at the center and about 1/4″ thick at the edges. The edges are a little thicker since the edge tends to dry a little faster than the middle.
I figured these smaller circles would dehydrate in about 6-7 hours They just need to dry until the center is no longer tacky.
So into the Excalibur dehydrator the trays went. I turned the temperature to 135 degrees and waited.
After about 3 hours I flipped the leathers & rotated all my trays since that helps result in a more even drying. Properly dehydrated leather will lift up at the edges but will not be brittle.
For me that took about 6 hours. Dehydrating time will vary based on many factors such as how thick the sauce is, how thickly the puree circles are, how humid the environment is and of course the power of the dehydrator. Be sure to check your puree frequently and pull it when the centers are no longer tacky.
Finished Tortilla-Sized Pizza Leather
When they were leather-like I turned the dehydrator off and left them inside the dehydrator overnight. I do this to make sure any residual moisture would evaporate. The next morning I prepared them for pantry storage.
Interior bags from boxes of cereal were repurposed by opening them at the seams until they were flat and cutting them. I cut strips as wide as my tomato leather and about twice as long. Then I laid a leather onto the waxed paper and folded it over, adding another leather on top. This way none of the leathers are touching each other to stick together.
Then I rolled the stacks of waxed paper/leathers and placed them all into a zippered bag. I added a quick label to identify the contents as well as the date I made them. Then I popped them into my pantry alongside the larger tomato leathers I made from the garden last year.
When I want to use these tortilla-sized pizza leathers to make tortilla pizza I simply unroll it on top of my tortilla and start adding my toppings. The leather rehydrates on its own as the pizza cooks!
I’ve saved some money by using something I had leftover and remaking it into something delicious. Plus those little cans of tomato puree are expensive! And how quick will our homemade tortilla pizzas be now?? Love it!
~TxH~
Links In This Post
- Preserving The Harvest: Making Tomato Sauce
- Making Your Own Pasta Sauce
- Dehydrating Tomatoes To Make Tomato Powder
- Making Dehydrated Diced Tomatoes
- Dehydrated Italian-Seasoned Tomato Leather
- Faster Pizza Night Using Tortilla Pizzas
- *Excalibur Dehydrator
- *Dehydrator Drying Sheets For Making Leathers
Dehydrating Posts
- Preserving The Harvest: Dehydrating Fresh Carrots
- Dehydrating Fresh Pumpkin For Easy Storage
- Dehydrating Spinach To Enjoy All Year Long
- Using A Dehydrator To Preserve Fresh Onions
- Dehydrating & Storing Cabbage
- Bell Pepper Dehydration
- Using A Solar Oven To Dehydrate Garden Produce
- How To Make Dehydrated Blueberry Powder
- Dehydrating Plums
See All Our Dehydrating Posts
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So convenient and what a useful item to have in your pantry let alone using up remainder of your pasta sauce. Waste Not, Want Not.
I normally make my own pizza crust and fix my pizza in cast iron skillet
Ya know Colleen, I’ve never once made pizza in my cast iron skillet. But I think it’d work great and keep me from firing up my oven & heating up the house. Hummm… I can see the crust would be crispy, do you cover it to make sure the cheese melts? Share your experience, please ma’am. Do your veggies get cooked? Any other tips? Inquiring minds wanna know! ~TxH~
I’ve never seen this done before but they must taste pretty amazing. Can they be done with all kinds of sauces?
Probably so Mary. I use pasta sauce so I could use it with our tortilla pizza. The sauce was already seasoned so it was easy to dehydrate. And since it was originally pasta sauce I’m able to slap them on our tortilla pizzas and just start adding toppings for a quick meal! ~TxH~
This is really interesting and something I may have a go at making later in the year. Pinning for future reference. #WasteLessWednesday
I have NEVER heard of this and found this post fascinating. It seems so very practical and frugal. Thanks for sharing at #HomeMattersParty
This is so cool! Great use for pasta sauce.
What a unique way to use tomato sauce, and I love that it helps cut down on meal prep! Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday. 🙂
Okay, this is so awesome! I would have NEVER thought of this. What an easy way to make a pizza and to use up left voer sauce!
Tomato leather? I like that idea!! Thanks for sharing on the What’s for Dinner link up.
My goodness what a great idea, I’ve never heard of it before! Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing with us at our To Grandma’s house we go link party! Pinned!
Wow, what a great idea! This is the first time I’ve seen this. I am now considering the purchase of a dehydrator… Thanks for posting at #HomeMattersParty!
I’ve never heard of doing this before…very interesting! Thanks for sharing!
How interesting! I’ve been wanting a dehydrator for years, because it sounds like there are just so many great ways to use them. However I live in an apartment and have limited space, so I always try to put off buy new appliances and gadgets. But this sounds really great! 🙂 Lisa
I love the idea of saving the tomato sauce so it is ready for pizzas! Pizzas are such a great way to use up leftover veggie scraps. I’ll have to remember this. Thanks for sharing on the Waste Less Wednesday Hop!
I just read your post regarding no corporate paycheck. I’ve been following your blog for a while now. We just recently moved to the great state of Texas. My husband works for a big company NE of Dallas. In about 6 months we will be looking for a piece of property that we can begin homesteading with no prior experience. Should be fun. 🙂 Thank you for doing what you do.
Another thing well worth trying – green tomato Sautee. The main thing I see people using green tomatoes for is frying or pickling, and then only as an end-of-season use-it-up. I start pulling green tomatoes (regular and cherry) as soon as they become decent size, chunk them and Sautee them in half good butter (I like Kerry Gold) and half good oil (coconut or olive oil), seasoning with salt, pepper, garlic and a goodly amount of cayenne. Early in the season I use just the green tomatoes, later I add sliced peppers, and finally late in the season, add sliced okra. Tangy and flavorful. This is totally awesome as a side dish, a main course over pasta or rice, and as a light meal served room temperature with cottage cheese. This is my go-to dish early summer to mid-fall, just as mustard/turnip greens ismy spring, late fall, winter dish.
This also makes a great base for hamburger stew. I brown the ground chuck (or ground pork, or a mixture of the two), remove the meat to a stew pot. Then I Sautee the green tomatoes (plus green peppers and okra if the season is right), season, add to the cooked meat, and add half pint – pint of homemade tomato purée, and reheat til it is all nice and evenly hot. Rich and filling either as a standalone stew, or with rice or pasta.
Love this. I’m going to pass it along to the chef here. It may be a great way to our weekly Pizza Night preparations easier (and saving a step or two when we’ve got tons of tomatoes to put up).