The recipe for this version of unsalted tomato paste is quite outstanding and can be made in 3 easy ways; if you want to sound more sophisticated, you can call it homemade tomato conserve.
It has a consistency that is similar to honey, is gooey, sticky, and sweet, and it imparts the whole flavor of tomatoes into any dish that it is added to. In addition to this, it is an excellent method for storing a bountiful harvest of tomatoes in a manner that is both space-saving and practical.
You’ll need the following ingredients to prepare tomato paste:
- 5 kg of tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 to 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Large pot
- Mill for food or a very large sieve
- Large rimmed baking pan
- 2 or 3 half-pint jars with lids or other containers of comparable size and shape
1: Always Begin With High-Quality Tomatoes
Use just the completely ripe tomatoes (a touch of overripeness is acceptable), the sweetest, and the most flavorful that you can locate. Try to find tomatoes that were grown in dry conditions and ripened on vines.
Tomatoes with a high concentration of flavor, such as Roma or Early Girl tomatoes, perform exceptionally well in this dish. Be sure to follow the note in the next step about deseeding and de-juicing the tomatoes if you use tomatoes that have a higher moisture content.
There are several different methods for preserving tomatoes, such as putting them in the freezer or canning them.
2: Chop the Tomatoes into Rough Pieces:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit before attempting to decrease the paste in the oven.
Tomatoes should have their stems and any sections that are damaged removed and thrown away. First, the tomatoes should be roughly chopped and then placed in a large pot. You just want to get a start on chopping the tomatoes so that they break down more quickly, so this can be a rough chop.
Note: If you are working with tomatoes that have a lot of juice, you may wish to cut them in half, squeeze out the seeds and watery juice in the middle, and then discard them. This will assist speed up the process of concentration that will turn tomato purée into tomato paste.
3: Prepare the Tomatoes for Cooking
Over high heat, the tomatoes should be brought to a boil. Just until the tomatoes begin to soften, which should take approximately two minutes of cooking while stirring.
The tomatoes are easier to process via a food mill or filter after being subjected to this brief cooking process, which helps break them down slightly. To the tomatoes, add around half a cup’s worth of olive oil and that teaspoon’s worth of fine sea salt.
Note: If you have a tomato mill or food mill and a strong arm, you can skip this initial cooking phase. If you do not have one of these tools, you will need to continue with step 1.
04: Make a Purée of the Tomatoes and Strain Them.
Put the cooked tomatoes through a food mill or use a flexible spatula to push them through a large sieve after you’ve cooked them. What is the purpose of your actions? to extract the pulp from the tomatoes while simultaneously removing the skins and seeds.
5: Reduce the amount of tomato purée
At this moment, you have the option of moving forward in one of three different ways:
- Method for the Oven: If you began with tomatoes that were not overly juicy and you have a few large sheet pans, you can directly pour the tomato pulp onto one or two large rimmed baking sheet(s) and bake in an oven preheated to 300 degrees Fahrenheit for about three hours. This method works best if you started with tomatoes that were not overly juicy.
- Combination Method: Feel free to boil down the tomato purée on the stove first if your tomatoes have more moisture in them or if you don’t have a large enough rimmed baking sheet to accommodate the recipe. By bringing it to a simmer and keeping it at a constant simmer until the tomatoes have reduced, you can cut it down by as much as a third (or perhaps by half if your tomatoes were exceptionally juicy). After that, you can finish decreasing the tomato combination in the oven by pouring it onto a baking sheet with a rim or a smaller roasting pan and cooking it for a longer period.
- Method for Cooking with a Stovetop Reduce the tomatoes on the stovetop until they form a paste. Although this is entirely feasible, it might be a challenging endeavor to get the desired consistency without causing the food to become too dark. If for some reason you wish to just simmer it down instead of baking it, see Step 9 for some suggestions on how to do it successfully. Baking is the preferred method.
6: Make Sure the Tomatoes Are Stirred Regularly
Be sure to stir the puréed tomatoes frequently (approximately every 30 minutes if they are in the oven; every 15 minutes if they are on the stove), taking care to scrape up any caramelized bits along the edges of the pan or bottom or sides of the pot and re-incorporating them into the mixture. This should be done regardless of the method that you choose to use to reduce the puréed tomatoes.
7: Tomatoes are Reduced in Volume by Baking
After the tomatoes have shrunk by a sizeable amount (between one-third and one-half), reduce the heat in the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Continue baking (while stirring and scraping the mixture at regular intervals) for up to two or three more hours, or until the mixture has the consistency of bricks, a shiny appearance, and the color of bricks.
8: Bringing Tomato Paste Down to a Simmer on the Stove
Reducing tomato paste on the stove is not a difficult task if you do not have access to an oven or if you are ready to stand over the pot and stir it frequently over a period of many hours to keep it from burning.
Continue to cook the tomatoes over low heat as instructed in Step 5 above. You want to maintain a very low and continuous simmer, and you need to check on the tomatoes and stir them around every 20 minutes. As the mixture gets lower and lower, you need also be sure to scrape down the edges of the pot.
The best way to prevent it from burning is to check on it frequently while it’s cooking in a pot that’s as heavy as you can find it to be. The best tools for the job are an enameled cast iron pot and a timer that can be set to alert you when it’s time to stir.
09: Put the tomato paste in jars and seal them.
To Put the Jars Away Properly Inside the Refrigerator:
- When transferring the tomato paste into the jars, a flexible spatula made of rubber or silicone is recommended. You should plan on having two to three glasses.
- Make sure there is space at the top of each jar so that you can pour a protective coating of olive oil over the paste.
- Refrigerator storage allows for up to several months of storage when properly covered with lids. Make sure that the surface of the tomato paste is always covered with oil and that you do this after each use.
- When you take a small amount of tomato paste out of the jar, you should always use utensils that have been meticulously cleaned to lessen the likelihood that mold may grow in the paste.
To sterilize the jars using hot water processing:
- Bring the water in a canning kettle up to a rolling boil. Transfer the mixture into hot, sterilized pint or half-pint jars using a flexible rubber or silicone spatula. Be sure to leave a headspace of 1/2 inch in each jar, and then run a thin knife along the sides of each jar to release as many air bubbles as possible.
- It is recommended that the jars be pounded several times on a counter to remove any air bubbles that may have formed in the thick liquid.
- After being warmed for a few minutes with hot water and then wiped dry, sterile lids should be applied to the jars before they are stored.
- Place the jars in a canning rack and immerse them in the boiling water contained in the canning kettle for a period of half an hour, ensuring that the water in the kettle is deep enough to cover the jars by at least one inch.
- Remove from the heat and allow to return to room temperature.
- You can keep it for up to a year if you put it in a cold, dark area (like a pantry or a cupboard). Once the jar has been opened, place it in the refrigerator and remove the tomato paste from the jar using clean utensils to prevent the likelihood of mold growth. Unprocessed jars should also be stored in the refrigerator.
