What does one do when you have an abundance of fresh Roma tomatoes from the garden (see today's harvest post)? One option is to make paste. It’s simple and takes a while. After rinsing the tomatoes, I cut them in half and throw in the pot with just a bit of water. Usually the rinse water is enough, don’t add much more than ¼ cup more. Bring to a low boil and turn down the heat to a simmer. The tomatoes will begin to break down. I cook them for about an hour this way.
Then run them through a food mill. This instrument is really a must. It will churn the tomatoes into sauce with no skins or seeds. It can also be used to make seedless jam. Toss the sauce back in the pan and simmer for hours.
The goal is to be able to pull a spoon across the paste and leave a trail with no water oozing to fill the trail back in. I fill small containers with the paste and freeze it. You can then pop the frozen paste into a big plastic bag and reuse the containers for more paste.
In the winter when making hearty tomato based dishes there is nothing like a shot of homemade tomato paste to add late summer flavor. I am not opposed to store bought paste but the flavor is not as bright as homemade. But really is anything better than what you can produce from your own garden?
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