When the season gives us tomatoes, we prepare mouneh

• Tomatoes

In a pot of boiling water

• Blanch the tomatoes.

On a large sieve

• Peel the tomatoes.
• Dice them using a vegetable dicer.

let the juices run down the sieve.

In clean jars

• Pack the concassé in the jars tightly and to the top.
• Squeeze out the air.
• Close the lid tightly.

In a pot of hot water

• immerse the jars in the water and let boil for a at least 15 to 20 minutes.

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• Remove the jars and check that the lids are still secured tightly.
• Place the jars upside down and let cool.

If the lid of any jar comes off, replace the lid and boil again, or use the content of the jar first thing.

• Tomatoes
• Sea salt

• Wash the tomatoes well
• Sort them: keep the hard ones to prepare concasse, throw away the rotten ones, etc..
• Remove the stems and any bruises or imperfections
• Cut the tomatoes and throw them in a tomato churning machine
• Add a handful of sea salt to the tomatoes as they are churned into a purée
• Push the tomato purée through a sieve
• Squeeze out all the juices and throw away the remaining seeds and skin

In a large shallow tin-lined copper pot

• Pour the pure tomato juice through a sieve into a large tin-lined copper pot which is properly set on the fireplace
• Monitor the fire and add the necessary wood to keep the heat consistent
• Once the juice starts boiling and thickening, start stirring the pot to make sure the paste doesn't stick to the pot and get burned
• Throw in a handful of sea salt
• Once a while, clean the sides of the pot with a flexible spatula
• After the mixture starts to thicken, taste to adjust the salt
• Once the mixture thickens and resembles a paste, remove it from the heat

In clean dry jars

• Instantly fill the canning jars with the hot tomato paste
• Tap the jars to make sure all air comes out
• Immediately, close the lids tight

• Tomatoes
• Aleppo peppers
• Sea salt

Preparing the pepper

• Wash and dry the peppers well
• Slice them and discard the stems and the seeds
• Grind them using a meat grinder

Preparing the tomato juice

• Wash the tomatoes well
• Sort them: keep the hard ones to prepare concasse, throw away the rotten ones, etc..
• Remove the stems and any bruises or imperfections
• Cut the tomatoes and throw them in a tomato churning machine
• Add a handful of sea salt to the tomatoes as they are churned into a purée
• Push the tomato purée through a sieve
• Squeeze out all the juices and throw away the remaining seeds and skin

Cooking the paste

In a large shallow tin-lined copper pot

• Pour the pure tomato juice through a sieve into a large tin-lined copper pot which is properly set on the fireplace
• Monitor the fire and add the necessary wood to keep the heat consistent
• Once the juice starts boiling and thickening, add the pepper and start stirring the pot to make sure the paste doesn't stick to the pot and get burned
• Throw in a handful of sea salt
• Once a while, clean the sides of the pot with a flexible spatula
• After the mixture starts to thicken, taste to adjust the salt
• Once the mixture thickens and resembles a paste, remove it from the heat

In clean dry jars

• Instantly fill the canning jars with the hot tomato paste
• Tap the jars to make sure all air comes out
• Immediately, close the lids tight

• Aleppo peppers
• Sea salt

• Wash and dry the peppers well
• Slice them and discard the stems and the seeds
• Layer them in metallic trays
• Place the trays under the sun

Leave them under the sun for a few hours

• Grind the peppers using a meat grinder
• Pour the pepper purée in shallow trays with a generous amount of sea salt

Leave the trays under the sun for days. Stir them periodically until they are cooked and all the water has evaporated.

In clean dry jars

• Fill the paste tightly in canning jars and cover them tightly as well.

• Red peppers
• Chili peppers

• We seed and slice Aleppo peppers.
• We place the red pepper slices on metal trays under the sun for days until they are completely dry and they crack when we try to break them.
• Then we crush them using a food processor.
• We sieve the flakes. Keep the larger flakes to use as garnish for dips and sides.
• We add to the the powder some salt and rub in a little olive oil to give the paprika a shine.
• Then we put it in the sun for a few hours.

• Red bell peppers
• Sea salt
• Vegetable oil

• cut the peppers in half lengthwise.

On a baking sheet

• Layer the peppers on the baking sheet.
• brush them with vegetable oil.

In a hot oven

• roast the peppers.

Let cool in a plastic bag.

• peel the roasted peppers and seed them.

In a colander

let rest in a colander till all the water runs down.

In clean dry jars

• layer the peppers in a jar, add a pinch of sea salt and fill with vegetable oil to the top.
• Close the lids tight.

• Tomatoes
• Dried Oregano
• Salt & Pepper
• Olive Oil

In a pot of boiling water

• Blanch the tomatoes.

In a large pot

• Peel the tomatoes.
• Dice them using a french fries cutter.

On the hot fireplace

• Cook the tomato until the water evaporates.
• Add salt, black pepper, and a generous amount of dried oregano.
• Cook until the sauce thickens.

In a blender

• Blend the mixture.

In clean dry jars

• Pour the sauce in the jars while still hot.
• Top each jar with tablespoon of olive oil.
• Close tightly.