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Monday, March 12, 2012

Tomato Paste

I made tomato paste for the first time this year. 
The crop has been so good this year that I have extra to play with.
It's very simple but it did tie me to the house for hours.
First I washed and wizzed the tomatoes in a food processor and then passed them through a mouli food mill.
I made about 6lt of pulp and filled two baking dishes.
I placed them in the oven at 180C

and reduced, stirring every half hour or so...

Reducing.....darker...thicker...
after about three hours I reduced the heat to 150C as it was coming closer to a thick paste.


Until after another half hour or so I had a nice thick dark firm sauce.

Someone once asked me what I use my smaller Fowlers Vacola jars for and here is a great example.
These are a #10 and perfect sizing for the paste.
Some recipes say to keep the paste in the fridge with a thick layer of oil on top but I processed mine in the water bath at 80C for half an hour to sterilise and seal so that I can have them on the shelf for the year till next summer.
Six jars this size are too small for my FV outfit so the pasta cooker comes in handy. It is just right for the bottles and keeps them off the bottom of the pan. Alternatively, you could use a cake rack inside a stockpot.

Quite a few hours but definitely worth the effort.
Tomorrow is tomato relish day.


12 comments:

  1. Your food styling photos look great!

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  2. This is a great use for those with abundant crops of paste tomatoes. I plan on planting less slicing tomatoes and more paste ones this spring because they just make for a better performance when canning. And .. it's nice to know that you can enjoy food not stored in bpa lined tin cans. This recipe is going to get bookmarked!

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  3. What unique canning lids. I've never seen them before.

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  4. What a great idea Tanya! It looked so rich and yummy and the bonus is no additives.

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  5. Yum! I'm still trying to decide what to do with my tomatoes, but I better make up my mind quickly!

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  6. You are so good. I would very much like to make my own tomato paste and sauces one year. I sometimes day dream of what it would be like to live in a big Italian family and go to sauce making day... a close friend of mine is Italian and I have been hinting at her for ages to invite me along but she sees it as a drag and as such thinks I'm kidding.

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  7. Awesome photos, they make the tomatoe paste look irresistable. The paste will be extra appreciated when winter hits.

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  8. Hi Tanya!
    I love your first image on this post its just gorgeous! Am catching up ( a little bit ) on your blog :)

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  9. Hi Tanya, Nettie linked me up with your blog about the tomato paste, I gave it a go Saturday night, great outcome, will be doing it again the paste is so rich and tasty. Thanks regards Gordon

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  10. hope you didnt mind me passing on your blog link to Gordon..he had so many tomatoes and wanted to make some paste...and of course i knew just where he could get a tried and true recipe...he also used the skins and added chile and some other bits and made a "to die for" salsa for pizzas as well ...i am sure he will share the recipe...plus i think he is a sign up for your next block of courses....have a great week ..love Nettie XXXX

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    Replies
    1. Hi there, good question about the clips. Normally I only double clip large fruit preserves like whole plums or pear halves where there is a risk of moving fruit unseating the seal. In this instance I was using some old white seals and I didn't feel I was getting a proper seating with the lid on the seal so to be sure there was no dislodgement in the boiling and that the lids remained exactly in place I double clipped them. Thanks for your question. Regards Tanya

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