Tuesday, April 29, 2014

roasted tomato passata

I must share with you my latest kitchen staple, a roasted tomato passata that is so rich and delicious and versatile.

For a long time I haven't bought tomato paste but I've been thinking recently that, surely, there must be an alternative to canned tomatoes though so many of my recipe call for them.The canned tomatoes, however organic, contain preservatives.

Since I began ordering our weekly produce through Lettuce Deliver (which I calculated at being on a par - if not cheaper, at times) than a supermarket buy which included only some organics) I realised that there's a healthy and cheap way to make my own passata.

I don't know about other organics companies but Lettuce Deliver has a weekly special on organic cooking tomatoes. I can get a kilo for $3.50. Some of them arrived a bit bruised or misshapen but I usually only have to cut out a miniscule amount of flesh from one or two tomatoes.



Here's how I make roasted tomato passata:

This recipe makes 2 litres. 

Preheat the oven to 200Âșc. 

Including the stalks, chop half a bunch of organic parsley and place this in a large baking tray. Quarter 2 kilograms of medium sized organic tomatoes and scatter them in to the tray.



Add 1 large red onion and 8 cloves of garlic (more or less to taste), a generous sprinkle of sea salt and a very generous layer of freshly ground black pepper. Liberally cover the tomatoes with olive oil and bake for an hour. I like my tomatoes to caramelise at the edges (you know that sticky, sugary goodness that comes from the slightly overcooked fruit?) so I leave them in until they are done but not burned.




Remove from the oven and allow to cool for ten minutes to avoid being burned when you transfer in to the food processor. Carefully tip the contents of the baking tray in to a food processor and blend until you have achieved a desired consistency.

If you, like me, use a Thermomix I used Closed lid/TURBO/10-15 seconds.

I mentioned versatlity.....

I use passata on pizzas, as a sauce for pasta on it's own or mixed with additional veggies and meat for a sauce. I use my passata in any recipe that calls for a tin of tomatoes or tomato paste - curries, nachos, the list goes on. This freezes very well and I freeze it in portions (large for pasta, small for pizzas).

Can you think of other alternatives for passata?

Today I tried a new Ottoleghi recipe which included my passata. I'll post the results soon.



This post is NOT sponsored by Lettuce Organics.

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For my other Thermomix recipes:
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/search/tmrc_solr_recipe/miss%20may?filters=type%3Arecipes

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