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I’ve never made tomato paste before and have never thought about making tomato paste before…yet here we are, making tomato paste.
I was trying to think of something different to do with my tomatoes that were softening at a rapid pace in my humid apartment (why is my apartment so humid?!) and thought, “tomato paste could be cute.”
I was curious what the process would even involve, but assumed it was really just cooking tomatoes down to a paste (which is correct).
I saw a lot of recipes that required you to quarter the tomatoes (plum are the best for this), remove the seeds, then boil and peel…which kind of didn’t make any sense to me. I chose to score the bottoms of my tomatoes, then boil them whole until the skin just starts to pull back, about 15 seconds to 1 minute. Throw them into an ice water bath until cool enough to handle, THEN you quarter and remove the seeds.
I saw many recipes that required you to put the tomatoes through a food mill in order to help get rid of the skin and seeds, but who has a food mill? I have almost every kitchen contraption invented and a food mill is not one of them.
Instead, I threw the tomatoes into a blender and puréed them.
A lot of recipes reduce the tomato purée in the oven at around 350°F for 4 to 5 hours but WHO WANTS TO HAVE THEIR OVEN ON IN THE SUMMER FOR 4 TO 5 HOURS?!
I reduced it on the stovetop and it only took a little over 2 hours AND WOW OH WOW WAS THIS BABY TASTY! I don’t think I’ve ever tasted tomato paste with that much flavor.
Homemade tomato paste is one thousand percent worth the effort, and really, it is not much effort at all. I froze tablespoon-sized portions in a silicon ice cube tray (which made me feel very Ina Garten) and I definitely recommend you do the same. The recipe only yields about 1 cup, so you could keep it in the fridge if you plan on using it within a week, but otherwise, I’d say freeze it.
ALSO! Use bottled lemon juice (or citric acid, but again, who has citric acid?) when you cook this. Bottled lemon juice is pasteurized and has a more consistent acidity than fresh lemon juice. Acidifying the tomatoes makes it more safe to process in a boiling water bath canner, but if you’re not planning on canning this, you can likely skip that altogether tbqh.
Honestly, just eating the tomato paste on its own is delicious, and I also feel like you could spread this on toast like jam and eat it with some cheese. OMG I BET PUTTING THIS INTO A GRILLED CHEESE WOULD BE SO GOOD, YOU SHOULD TRY THAT AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! or maybe I’ll try it and tell YOU what I think about it!
Honestly, I already know that I’m going to like it.
Makes about 1 cup|250 ml
Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 2 ½ hours
INGREDIENTS
2 ½ pounds|1.1 kg plum tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ teaspoons bottled lemon juice
DIRECTIONS
Fill a large bowl of water with ice and water. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a bowl.
Using a paring knife, mark an X at the bottom of each tomato. Carefully drop the tomatoes into the boiling water (you may want to do this in 2 batches) and cook until the skin just starts to peel back by where you marked them with an X, about 15 seconds to 1 minute (depending on how ripe your tomatoes are). Using a slotted spoon, transfer the tomatoes to the bowl of ice water until cool enough to handle. Repeat with the second batch of tomatoes.
Peel and discard the skin from the tomatoes, then quarter them lengthwise. Remove and discard the seeds, then transfer the tomatoes to a high speed blender and purée until smooth.
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the tomato purée, the salt, and lemon juice. Bring to a low simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced to a paste, about 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Cool completely, then transfer to a container and cover. Refrigerate until ready to use or freeze in small batches (I froze mine in an ice cube tray!). Tomato paste will keep, refrigerated for up to one week or frozen for 3 months.
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"Who has citric acid?" *I* have citric acid! I got a 7-1/2 ounce jar of Ball brand sitting in my pantry. It's sold right there with the canning supplies, next to the Mason jars and the Sure-Jell. You can buy it, as well you should know, to keep your preserved foods from blackening and discolouring.
So many great tips to make this work! So simple! What if you left the seeds in?