You don’t know this about me, but I am addicted to recipe magazines. You know, those obscenely priced magazines they bombard you with at the register of most stores, especially of the grocery variety. A couple weeks ago, I picked up one called Ultimate Italian, a Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publication. It’s fantastic, full of yummy looking recipes from lasagna, to fococcia, to cannolis. But the first thing to really catch my eye was a recipe for Tomato Basil Jam. I mean, look, doesn’t this catch your eye?
I know, not the best picture, but in person, it is gorgeous.
I showed my magazine to a friend at work and, long story short, she made the jam and gave me a small jar of it on Wednesday. I finished it off last night (Friday) and promptly went to work making some for myself. It. is. delicious. I did that thing up there, in the picture, with the bread and the jam and the mozzarella and it is heavenly.
So, anyway, last night. I made the jam. And this morning it hadn’t set. After conferring with Ms. Beth Fish Reads herself this morning over Twitter, I decided to boil it again, longer (much! longer), this morning.
Oh my goodness, but it does smell good.
Here is the end result:
And here is the recipe:
Tomato Basil Jam
Adapted from Ultimate Italian magazine 2011
Prep: 1 hour Cook: 11 minutes Process: 5 minutes (all in your dreams)
4 1/2 cups peeled, seeded, and finely chopped ripe tomatoes (about 4 1/2 pounds)
1/4 cup shipped fresh basil (I used African Blue Basil)
1/4 cup bottled lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups sugar
1 1/75 ounce package powdered fruit pectin for lower sugar recipes
1. In a 6 or 8 quart kettle or pot, bring tomatoes to boiling over medium heat, stirring frequently; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir in basil, lemon juice, and salt. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar with the pectin. Stir sugar mixture into tomato mixture. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the remaining 2 3/4 cups sugar. Return mixture to a full rolling boil; boil hard for 1 minute, (Or in my case, gently boil 20 more minutes to remove some of the water. But my tomatoes had a LOT of water in them. If you wind up with 6 pints instead of 5, like me, keep boiling), stirring constantly. Remove from heat; quickly skim off foam with a metal spoon.
2. Ladle at once into hot, sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids. Process in a hot water bath for 5 minutes (start timing when the water returns to boiling) (also, I processed for 10 minutes, but I’m anal like that). Remove jars; cool on wire racks. Makes 5 half-pints.
Per tablespoon: 40 cal, 0 mg fat, 0 mg chol, 11 mg sodium, 10 g carb, 0 g fiber, 0 g protein.
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That jam looks lovely.
I often fall for those pricey, glossy food periodicals
I have this terrible habit of cutting out recipes by the bajillion, and then never remembering where there are
That looks soooooo beautiful and I bet it tastes heavenly. I may just have to make me a small batch — and boil it for a long while.
I love food magazines. I buy them, read them, cut them up, save them.
Now this does like something I want to try. I do wonder if it is worth the while for such a small jar though
Your jar of jam looks wonderful. I love the combination of basil and tomatoes (plus mozzarella) and they are both ripe in my garden right now. Funny how, until I got to your blog, I wasn't thinking about making jam today. Now I'm off to try it.
We love tomatoes, but never heard of them in a jam. Interesting! My hubby has been trying to get me to start canning. I might have to start with this recipe!
Here's Mine
I read about jams such as this, but I just can't imagine. I think this is what the English might call a savoury jam?
@TheBookGirl – I do that too!!! I put them in a 3-ring binder that has photo album pages in it, so they are protected by the plastic. See, I'm terrible.
@Beth F – If you do, I want to hear what you think!
@Uniflame – It is so totally worth it. TRUST ME.
@Margot: You have to tell me what you think!
@Vicki – Yes, do! It is so delicious. And it will get you addicted.
@Nan – It is slightly savory, but also sweet. It is…difficult…to describe. Except to say it is delicious.
You managed to get my tummy growling and my mouth salivating all at once! Hope you're proud of yourself.
Seriously, this sounds incredible!!!
I love canning, sand I love tomatoes, so I have to try this! Thanks for sharing!
You're welcome! Let me know how it comes out!
Did the 2nd boil make it set?
I am also addicted to those magazines but went cold turkey a while back. I vowed to not buy another until I make all the recipes I've culled from them over the years and lug around in a big file folder.
Yes it did. It just had too much water in it. I had some this morning on french bread and it was perfect!
That's a beautiful jam! Terrific for this time of year.
Oh my! This sounded delicious in your linky post but it looks and sounds even better here!