Tomato Passata

We had suspected COVID-19, thankfully the test was negative. We asked my mum to get us some supplies before we got the test in case it was COVID-19.

I asked her for the biggest tub of cherry tomatoes thinking she was going to a supermarket. I didn’t quite realise she was going to the green grocers and literally asked for their biggest box.

This is my mum summed up, she loves like there’s no tomorrow.

But as a food waste hater I decided to put this to good use. I made some tomato passata using the recipe from Lynda Brown’s The Preserving Book, then froze it.

Tomatoes raw don’t freeze very well. It is best to cook them up first. There are quicker ways to make passata but we need to make sure all the tomatoes are cooked down otherwise it won’t freeze properly. So I prefer to use recipes with a longer cooking time.

This recipe made enough for 8 meals of spaghetti bolognese or chilli con carne and so on.

The utensils you’ll need are:

  • Colander
  • Large Pot
  • Wooden spoon
  • Sieve
  • Large bowl (preferably 2)

We are growing lots of tomatoes this year so this is a great recipe to keep for when we (hopefully) have too many tomatoes on our hands.

Makes: 0 Prep: 0 hrs 15 mins Cook: 1 hrs 0 mins

Ingredients

  • 2-3kg Tomatoes (I had 1.8kg and still used this recipe)
  • 1 Garlic Clove crushed
  • 1 Onion sliced
  • 1 Bay Leaf (dried or fresh)
  • 2 tsp of your favourite herb or any preserved.
  • (Traditionally the herbs used are basil or parsley. I used up the frozen thyme I posted about earlier this week. It really doesn’t matter as long as you like the taste of the herb)
  • If you have any spare celery add either the leaves or a chopped up stem

Method

  1. Wash your tomatoes
  2. If you have any small blemishes just cut it off and use the rest of the tomato. Blemishes are natural and in most cases don’t mean the veg or fruit is off.
  3. Chop up your tomatoes
  4. Put them into a pan
  5. If you haven’t already, slice your onion, crush your garlic and add to the pan
  6. Add your bay leaf and herb(s)
  7. Turn your heat to high and stir till the onion, garlic and herbs are mixed. The tomatoes will start to let their juices out, you don’t need to add water.
  8. When it starts boiling turn the heat to medium and let it simmer continuously for 1 hour
  9. After 1 hour turn your heat off and pour your passata into your sieve
  10. When you first pour your tomatoes into the sieve lots of liquid will go through. If you have a large amount of tomatoes or a small sieve you might need to do this in batches.
  11. Using a spoon or fork stir the tomatoes in the sieve bringing through as much liquid as possible
  12. Once most of the liquid is gone then we need to use our arms muscles. Using the back of a spoon or spatula push the tomatoes through the sieve. You’ll start to see what looks like mushed up tomato coming through, this is what we want
  13. Do this as much as your arm muscles allow. Ask others to give it a go if you get tired. Or like me do it as long as you can till your 4 year old gets bored.
  14. I like to move the sieve to a separate bowl after most of the liquid has gone through. I find it easier to push all the tomato goodness through without the liquid. Once you’ve got all that tomato goodness I mix the liquid with the paste.
  15. Once completed put into tubs and label with the Month and Year you made it.
  16. This should last up to 12 months
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