Passed tomatoes are commercially available from a wide variety of manufacturers. However, homemade tomato puree tastes significantly better than the finished products and is free of artificial flavors and preservatives. If the tomato harvest in the garden is particularly plentiful, straining the vegetable is a good way to process it.

In order to remove the peel from the tomatoes, they must be boiled

What varieties of tomatoes are suitable for straining?

In principle, you can strain any ripe tomato, but some varieties produce better results. Beef, egg or plum tomatoes are particularly aromatic, fleshy and have a slightly floury consistency. Well-known varieties here are the "San Marzano", an elongated and firm variety with a lot of aroma, as well as the ox heart tomatoes, which have an unusually large amount of flesh. If you use such tomatoes for straining, you will get a very creamy result.

How does it actually happen?

Passing tomatoes is done in three steps:

  • cleaning tomatoes
  • Boil tomatoes
  • pass tomatoes

The work does not require much effort and is done quickly. It is worth straining larger quantities, as the finished puree can be frozen as a reserve or can be preserved.

  1. Only use undamaged, ripe tomatoes.
  2. Wash the tomatoes under running water.
  3. Remove the stem end.
  4. Roughly chop the tomatoes.
  5. Heat some oil in a large enough pot and sauté the tomato pieces until they break down (about 20 minutes).

Now you have several options for straining the cooked tomatoes.

The fleet Lotte

The brisk Lotte is a kitchen utensil with a sieve and a hand-operated crank, in which the shells and seeds are caught.
If you own this kitchen utensil, take the disc with the finest holes, place the tomatoes in the hopper and turn the handle. The washer presses the tomato puree into the bowl below. The core and skin remain in the lively Lotte.

The sieve

Tomatoes can be passed even without brisk Lotte. To do this, hang your finest sieve in a suitable bowl and add the cooked tomatoes. Stir with a spoon until only the skin and seeds remain in the sieve. You can make the process a little easier by skinning the tomatoes beforehand. To do this, cut a cross into the tomatoes opposite the base of the stem and briefly place them in boiling water. The skin will come off and can be peeled off.

The immersion blender and the stand mixer

If you want to strain your tomatoes with the help of these kitchen tools, you should first skin them and remove the seeds. If the seeds are crushed in the blender, they can make the sauce bitter.
First prepare the tomatoes and briefly boil the pieces. Put the tomatoes in a suitable container and puree the whole thing with the hand blender to a creamy sauce.
Using a stand mixer, add the cooked tomatoes, seal tightly and blend on high. With the blender, you can also puree the tomatoes in their raw state (however, skinned and seeded) and only then bring them to the boil.

Use the tomato passata

Passed tomatoes can be stored well. They freeze well or can be preserved in suitable jars. So you always have a homemade tomato puree at hand.

The delicious tomato puree forms the basis for various delicious dishes. For example, prepare a tomato soup. To do this, sauté a diced onion in the pot and pour in the tomato puree and broth. Taste the soup and add a dash of cream.
If you add flavor to the tomato puree, you can use it as a base for a homemade pizza dough.
The passed tomatoes also belong in a good Bolognese sauce. Then add the right spaghetti and the Italian pasta is ready. In the Chili con Carne, too, the tomato puree that you have strained yourself provides the necessary freshness.

Tomato puree can be combined with a wide variety of spices. If you love Mediterranean, refined with basil, rosemary and thyme. If spiciness is desired, a chili pepper can be cooked immediately and strained.

The Difference Passed Tomatoes - Ketchup

Bottled ketchup usually has a relatively long shelf life. Preservatives must also be processed for this. You do not use such an artificial additive with your tomato passata. Also, ketchup always tastes sweet. This is achieved by adding copious amounts of sugar or sugar substitute and is not really recommended. However, if you want to achieve a sweet note in your tomato puree, you can experiment with adding brown sugar or honey, a mild vinegar and a pinch of salt.

Category:

Vegetable garden