When tomato puree is cooked for several hours until thick, the richly
flavoured tomato concentrate can be bottled to use all year long. Have excess homegrown
(or locally grown) tomatoes? Make a batch of your own tomato paste!
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Ingredients
for TOMATO PASTE
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Yield: 8-9 cups
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Tomatoes, Roma*
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6.3kg (14 pounds)
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Citric Acid
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1 teaspoon
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Salt, Finely Ground
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1 teaspoon (optional)
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*Fresh or thawed tomatoes can be used. Other “paste/plum” tomato varieties
can be used - they are dense with less seeds and are long or pear shaped.
Some examples include Amish paste, black
prince, Italian gold, opalka, Polish linguisa, principe borghese, san marzano, saucy and sausage.
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METHOD:
NOTE: Only
half-pint jars (1 cup/250ml jars, or smaller in volume) are suitable for this recipe.
2. Wash tomatoes. Discard spoiled tomatoes (damaged tomatoes will affect
the flavour, reduce storage period and increase risk of spoilage). Remove
tomato cores.
3. Spread tomatoes on an oven tray in a single
layer. Roast on low heat until skins split.
4. Remove trays from the oven and cool tomatoes to
touch.
5. Discard tomato skins (or set aside to
dehydrate into tomato powder) and run roasted tomatoes through a passata
machine, food mill or sieve to discard seeds.
6. Place tomato puree into a large pan. Add citric
acid and stir well. Simmer tomato puree gently until as thick as possible –
this can be done in the slow cooker, oven or stovetop.
NOTE: This
reduction is “low and slow” – on low heat to prevent scorching and slowly over
several hours to remove the water content – until the mixture is very hick (and
halved in volume).
7. When the tomato paste is ready: place the lids
into a heatproof bowl and cover the lids with boiling water. Remove the lids
from the water when you are ready to place them onto the jars to seal.
8. Place
jars onto a heatproof surface i.e. wood board (or tea towel).
9. Fill jars with hot tomato paste, filling to 1.25cm
(1/2 inch) from the rim of each jar.
TIP: use a jar
funnel to fill jars.
10.
Using a non-metal utensil (i.e. chopstick), remove any bubbles and add more hot
tomato paste if required to correct the headspace if it dropped below 1.25cm
(1/2 inch) from the jar rim.
11. Wipe jar rims with a damp paper towel to
remove any food residue.
12. Remove lids from hot water and seal jars i.e. twist to secure
“fingertip tight”.
13.
Return jars of bottled tomatoes into the pot of boiling water and boil for the
processing time stated below. Start the timer once the water comes back to a
full boil.
14. Turn off the heat source once the time is up. Remove jars from hot
water after 5 more minutes. Cool jars overnight on a heatproof surface i.e.
wooden board or towel. Do not adjust lids during this time.
15.
After 12-24 hours: check jars have sealed before labelling and dating clearly.
16. Store jars of tomato paste in a cool, dark and dry place (i.e.
pantry) for up to 12 months. Jar lids should remain tightly sealed during
storage, and not flex up or down when pressed (which indicates jar seal
failure, do not consume).
17. Refrigerate jars upon opening and consume contents within 5 days.
TIP: Freeze
leftover tomato paste from opened jars in freezer safe containers (we recommend
storing in the freezer in an ice cube tray that has an airtight lid, example
pictured).
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Processing Time for Tomato Paste
in a Boiling Water Canner
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Altitude Processing Times
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Packing
Style
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Jar Size
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0-1000 ft
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1001-3000 ft
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3001-6000 ft
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6000+ ft
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Hot Pack
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Half-Pint (250ml/1
cup)
or smaller
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45 minutes
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50 minutes
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55 minutes
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60 minutes
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Author:
Megan Radaich
Image credit: Megan Radaich
Learn more: www.foodpreserving.org