Leftover canned and 'real' tomato juice

[LJS]

I just made large batches of gazpacho and ratatouille (yes, the tomato crop came in BIG this year!). After all that peeling, seeding, 'draining' etc, I have about 6 cups of a mix of tinned, but mostly fresh, seedless and bright coloured, tomato juice....just tried it and it is VERY tasty.

I could use it as is for Bloody Mary's or just plain with lemon at dinner. But I was curious as to whether I could use it for soup base? If so, any recipe ideas?

And can I freeze it for future soup/stew additions?

Will its' introduction too soon in the cooking process render beans, potatoes, celery etc. impossible to cook thoroughly the way whole tomatoes do?

Thanks in advance! LJS

[enmnz]

What an awesome problem to have! I hope my crop is as good as yours (southern hemisphere), seedlings just starting now.
If you freeze it, I have found that you have to use it in cooking. They taste a little strange in fresh things such as salsa etc once defrosted. (I normally use canned tomatos in salsa, lazy I know).

[LJS]

Thanks all! made minestrone today with 'leftover' juices and it is fantastic...never will think of this leftover as a problem again.

[kseiverd]

ABSOLUTELY can use in soups. Last time I made a BIG batch of fresh salsa (to can), I strained off juice... didn't toss. After I PACKED jars as full as possible, topped off with the juice... a bit of a v-8 by then with onions, peppers, etc. ANything that I didn't use, I just put in containers and froze. Then when I was making stew, chili, soup... just popped out into pot with rest of stuff.Thinking would be a nice change from plain water for cooking rice, too.

[splatgirl]

I always drain my tomatoes, reduce the liquid and add it back in to fresh tomato whatever. This technique would be perfect for gazpacho--it gives an enormous depth of flavor without interfering the lovely freshness of the raw tomato.