Easy Tomato Passata Recipe | Pip Magazine - Sustainability and Permaculture (2024)

FAQs

Easy Tomato Passata Recipe | Pip Magazine - Sustainability and Permaculture? ›

Chop tomatoes roughly. Place the tomatoes in a saucepan and slowly bring to a simmer, being careful not to burn them. Allow to simmer until skins are splitting, about 2 minutes of simmering. Allow the tomatoes to cool and drain in a colander of pillow case.

Passata is strained, raw tomato blend: Another differential point is that passata is NEVER cooked, but always bottled or used in its uncooked raw form. Tomato puree, on the other hand, is often cooked before canning/bottling to reduce its water content and sweeten the tomatoes.

Passata is made from pureed tomatoes, but unlike strained tomatoes, passata has a thicker consistency. Strained tomatoes result in a thinner consistency. That's why passata is the best choice for dishes that need a thick sauce, such as this one-pan lasagne or this Mexican beef mince.

Allow to cool, then sieve the pulp. You can now pour into freezer-proof containers and freeze for up to 3 months, or pour into jars and keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Tomato Passata is pureed, strained tomatoes usually sold in bottles. It's 100% tomato, no additives or flavourings, but sometimes contains added salt. It's uniform and smooth unlike crushed or chopped tomatoes, and makes gorgeously thick tomato-based sauces. It's known as Tomato Puree in the US (here's a photo).

How to Use Passata. Generally, passata can be used in any recipe that calls for canned tomatoes, but passata is thicker than diced or crushed tomatoes, as it contains less liquid. Using passata in place of canned tomatoes will lend to a thicker texture and more intense tomato flavor.

The flavour: passata is simply a pureed tomato liquid, which means it doesn't enjoy as much of a full bodied flavour as chopped tomatoes. The texture: as it is sieved, the texture is smooth. Due to its smoothness, it often doesn't hold additional flavourings such as garlic as well as chopped tomatoes do.

Its smooth texture, ideal for sauces and topping pizza Passata is simply puréed, sieved tomatoes. The smooth sauce-like consistency is ideal for using in chilli, Bolognese, casseroles, sauces and soup instead of canned tomatoes – especially if your children don't like the chunks in the canned varieties.

“So just by using passata – or even tinned tomatoes or tomato paste, which both feature cooked tomatoes – you're going to consume a high concentration of beautiful antioxidants. There are certainly health benefits you can gain from that.”

Do Italians use passata? ›

Italian Tradition

It can serve as a base for pasta sauces, it can be an essential ingredient for soups, add flavor to a meat stews, or be used to simmer meatballs.

Tinned beans are processed, so is tomato passata, and so are frozen ready meals.

"After opening a high-acid canned food, like a tomato sauce, it can be stored safely in the refrigerator for five to seven days before being used," says Shelley Feist, executive director of the Partnership for Food Safety Education.

Mirro Stainless Steel Food Mill

It's also a good choice for passata, and its 2-quart capacity is fine for most home-based projects requiring pureeing. The looped handle makes this mill easy to hang on a rack, out of the way for convenient storage.

Try locate San Marzano Tomatoes if you can. If not, Roma are frequently used in Australian Passata making. San Marzano are classified as DOP, the pinnacle of Italian tomato varieties.

The passata can be frozen for up to 3 months and should be thawed overnight in the fridge before using. We would also suggest that any frozen passata is used up within 24 hours of thawing. It is also possible to freeze the leftover passata in ice cube trays. Once frozen, transfer the cubes to a resealable bag.

Suggested measurement: 1 part tomato passata : 1 part tomato puree. Due to the passata being slightly less cooked than the puree, your recipe may need to cook a little longer than normal. Tasting as you go is a great way to make sure your recipe comes out as similar as possible to the original recipe.

Process the solids in a blender or food processor until smooth. If you don't have either, mash the tomatoes finely with a masher or fork until as smooth as possible. Strain the pureed tomatoes and discard the skins and seeds. Use as you would use passata.

Here's how to use tomato paste as a replacement for canned tomato or passata in cooking. Use for things like bologneses and in soups that call for canned tomato. Once cooked into a dish, no one will ever be able to tell that you used tomato paste instead of canned tomato!

I would NOT use canned tomato sauce in place of passata - it's likely to have other flavors added to it and it will have undergone a long cook time and be completely smooth. Passata is smoother than crushed tomatoes but does still have some texture. And, of course, Amazon.