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End of Season Tomatoes

By on Saturday, September 11th, 2021 at 8:32 pm | 461 views

Plum tomatoes from the Farmers Market

The season for fresh farmers’ market tomatoes is coming to an end. Unlike the tomatoes in the height of the summer, late season tomatoes are better cooked than raw. It might also be possible to score a deal on tomatoes slightly passed their prime.

One great method for using a large quantity of tomatoes and saving the flavors of summer through the cold of winter is to cook up some tomato paste. Freezing or canning the paste will help keep it from spoiling.

Plum tomatoes make the best sauces because of the volume of pulp to liquid ratio, but most recipes are versatile enough to handle a mix of cultivars.

This tomato paste recipe is adapted from Mary Taylor Simeti’s Pomp And Sustenance: Twenty-five Centuries of Sicilian Food, and is great for using up a lot of tomatoes all at once. Not many recipes out there call for 10lbs of tomatoes and its a sure way to use up a large quantity.

“Strattu” Tomato Paste

Ingredients

10 lbs tomatoes
6 sprigs basil
4 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt

Instructions

Process tomatoes through a food mill.
Add salt, basil.
Spread the puree onto tabletops.
Dry in the sun for two days.

Wait a second — you aren’t planning on drying the tomato paste on your roof for two days? Fine, Try it in the oven on about 200°F, stirring every 30 minutes until the moisture is gone.