Passata di Pomodoro Easy Tomato Sauce

Home-grown Tomatoes ready for Passata di Pomodoro

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!

INGREDIENTS

Tomatoes of every kind, variety and colour ready for saucing
Salt
Large saucepan or stock pot
Mouli legume food mill with fine disk
Sterilised jars and lids
Tea towels

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!

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