Tomato Paste:
The Roma tomatoes are coming in now. Time to start making pasta sauce, tomato puree and tomato paste. Thought I'd pass along my tomato paste recipe. Tis very easy and oh, so good~
I quarter raw Roma tomatoes and put them in a large pot. I bring them to a slow boil and heat them up just enough to get the juices flowing. As I'm doing this, I mash them slightly. I then run the puree through a food mill to separate the skins and seeds from the meat.
Now, I ladle some of the puree into a metal, mesh colander. The colander sits above a large bowl or pot (this catches the tomato water). Ladle the puree in the colander slowly. At first some pulp will wash through, but eventually the puree will stay in the colander, with the water draining to the bottom container. I add all the puree and let it drain for several hours or until there is no more water draining out. At this point, I spoon the tomato paste into ice cube trays and freeze. When frozen, pop them out into freezer bags.
You can also freeze the tomato water, if you have freezer space, to use in soups, etc.
Until next time.....
