Passata di Pomodoro Easy Tomato Sauce

People ask me “How do I make my own successful tomato sauce from scratch?” I say, simply by cooking red ripe tomatoes simply! So, here we go. This is not a recipe more an instruction on how to easily prepare authentic Passata di Pomodoro. Pomodoro in Italian means “tomato”. Passata in Italian means “to pass”. Therefore when I make my tomato sauce or puree I pass it through a mouli légumes/macina legumi/Gemüse-Maschine (food mill). I use my hands, knife, chopping board, stock pot, heat source of any kind to cook the sauce … not a machine or food processor! It’s simple. It’s easy. It’s inexpensive. And it doesn’t take a long time contrary to popular belief. Have ready sterilised jars and lids so you can pour the Passata di Pomodoro into the jars whilst the sauce is still hot. I use an assortment of colourful tomatoes which are ready for saucing. Once you have bottled your Passtata di Pomodoro, label and date and store in a cool dry place. If you have successfully sterilised the jars and lids and bottled the sauce whilst very hot it should keep for at least a year. But then, you’ll be cooking with it through winter won’t you? Happy cooking!

METHOD

• Wash, de-stem and drain the tomatoes. Cut into quarters.
• Place the tomatoes into a large saucepan or stock pot.
• Bring to the boil on medium-high heat.
• Turn the heat down to low and simmer for approx. 25-30 minutes depending on the quantity of tomatoes or until they have turned to a hot rough puree or mush!
• Remove from the heat. Use a ladle to pass the cooked tomatoes through the fine disk of a mouli légumes/macina legumi/Gemüse-Maschine (food mill) over a clean saucepan or stock pot.
• Place the resulting Passata back on the heat. Simmer and reduce by a quarter or a third depending on how thick you want the sauce to be. Add salt to taste. Stir.
• Pour the hot Passata into a jug with spout for easy pouring into the jars.
• Fill the sterilised jars till just beneath the rim. Place sterilised lids on the jars. Ensure they are screwed on tight!
• Cover individual jars with a small towel and carefully turn each jar upside down to the count of 5 to cause a vacuum and sterilise. Beware the jars are hot!
• Place filled and sealed jars on a table covered with a towel, keeping a space between jars, and allow jars to cool over 24 hours.
• Date and label your Passata di Pomodoro and store in a cool dry place.

Buon Appetito!