camp meals

Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce, Trail Version

Dried tomato and garlic rehydrated into a thick sauce for camp flatbread pizza.

calories
210
weight
2.2 oz
cal / oz
95
protein
6 g
serves
2, scales
prep
5 min
cook
10 min
total time
15 min
water
250 ml boiled
cost
$

Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.

  • Dinner
  • Canister stove
  • Campfire coals
  • Car camping
  • Backpacking
  • Basecamp
  • Bikepacking
  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Gluten free
  • Dairy free
  • Nut free
  • One pot
  • Pre-mix at home
  • Shelf stable
  • Basic

Ingredients

Tomato powder 1/3 cup or sun-dried tomatoes ground fine at home
Sun-dried tomato halves 1/4 cup scissored into strips, for texture
Garlic powder 1 tsp stands in for two roasted heads
Onion powder 2 tsp
Olive oil 2 tbsp dropper bottle
Cane sugar 1 tsp
Red wine vinegar 2 tsp small leakproof vial
Dried oregano 1 tsp
Dried basil 1 tsp
Dried rosemary 1/2 tsp crushed between your fingers
Salt 3/4 tsp
Black pepper 1/4 tsp
Red pepper flakes 1/8 tsp or a pinch of cayenne

Method

  1. Bring 250 ml of water to a boil, then pull the pot off the heat.
  2. Stir in the sun-dried tomato strips and let them sit five minutes until they soften.
  3. Whisk in the tomato powder a spoonful at a time so it does not clump. It will thicken as it goes.
  4. Add the garlic, onion, herbs, sugar, salt, pepper, and flakes. Return to low heat for two minutes, stirring.
  5. Stir in the oil and vinegar last, off the heat. Add water 1 tbsp at a time if it is stiffer than you want.

The source recipe is a water bath canning project: ten pounds of roma tomatoes roasted, milled, jarred with bottled lemon juice for acidity. None of that travels. What survives the trip to a backpack is the flavor logic, so this rebuilds it from dried parts.

Tomato powder does the roasting work in advance, since drying concentrates sugars the same way an oven does. The vinegar goes in off the heat and replaces the canning lemon juice, which existed for safety rather than taste but sharpened the sauce anyway. Fat matters here: without the oil the sauce tastes thin and flat, and the herbs need something to dissolve into.

Packing

Powders, herbs, sugar, and salt premix into one bag at home. Tomato strips ride in a second bag so they do not draw moisture out of the powder. Oil and vinegar in separate small bottles, bagged together.

Variations

  • Thin it with another 100 ml of water and it becomes tomato soup.
  • Spoon it over couscous or instant polenta if you did not carry flatbread.
  • A packet of tomato paste replaces half the powder and gives it more body.

https://www.theseasonalhomestead.com/roasted-tomato-pizza-sauce-canning-recipe