What is Tomato Passata and where the heck can I find it?
I've come across a few recipes lately that ask for tomato passata which I had not heard of before. So me being me, I goggled it and made it from scratch. As was the case with this Passata. My understanding is that it's a raw tomato sauce (pressed tomatoes) - the fresh, ripe tomatoes are quickly blanched and then pressed through a rotary food mill or a colander to remove the seeds and skin. There were many definitions, versions, and techniques to choose from on the great big world wide web so I incorporated a few that sounded good to me and this is what I came up with - I'm happy with the outcome. It's a fresh, smooth sauce with simple, quality ingredients perfect for right now since it's tomato season and the tomatoes are incredible and abundant.
You could use Passata in pasta sauces, as a pizza sauce, or eaten straight out of the jar! I used it in this delicious Veggie Bolo sauce with very tasty results. You can store any remaining sauce in a jar in the fridge for a week or place in the freezer until you need it next.
The bulk of this recipe comes from the BBC Good Food recipe page, but I made a few changes mostly out of convenience for what I had on hand.
Enjoy!
x Tracy
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Easiest Tomato Passata
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INGREDIENTS
- ½ large red onion, rough chop
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 8-10 medium - large ripe tomatoes, halved
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 4-6 leaves large basil, rough chop
- 1 teaspoon course ground pepper
- 4 halves sun-dried tomatoes (in oil)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- salt, to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat oil in small skillet over medium-high and fry onions until golden.
While the onions are cooking, place tomatoes, garlic, basil, and pepper into blender and blend until liquified. * SIDE NOTE: I didn't have this many fresh tomatoes so I added 3 san marzano whole tomatoes (canned - no juice) to the fresh tomatoes.
When the onions are cooked, add them as well as the sun-dried tomatoes and tomato paste (I usually have a tube on hand in the fridge which is convenient when I need only a small amount at a time) to the tomatoes in the blender and blend until liquified. - Pour the blender contents into a large pan and bring to a boil, reduce heat, and gently simmer stirring frequently for 10 - 15 minutes until you have the perfect passata.
- Once cool, place in a jar with a tight fitting lid in the fridge for up to a week or freeze any leftovers.
Rolf Christmas
Really happy with this recipe however I left out the sun dried tomatoes and added a bay leaf and a little bit of sugar