Homemade Magic Tomato Paste

Daria Souvorova

3 hours
makes: about 12-16 ounces

You know that time of year…when tomatoes are everywhere…well, that time of year is upon us! The garden is producing some beautiful tomatoes, and I have had the opportunity to slice them up for Caprese Salads and Herbed Ricotta Salads, I have roasted them into Ratatouille, and Roast Tomato and Wine Braised Lentils. We have baked them into Eggplant and Tomato Pizza.

I love my homegrown tomatoes, and was looking for some ways to preserve my scarlet beauties! I started out thinking I would just boil them a bit and can them, then I decided I wanted sauce, and after cooking them down, I figured I should just strain the sauce and cook it down into a beautiful savory tomato paste.

I have read that homemade tomato paste is much better than the store bought (which I also love and live by), but wow, it is magic! I read in one of my cookbooks that someone referred to a stewed tomato sauce as tomato magic, I want to steal that! This is my Tomato Magic!

Ingredients:

• 10 pounds tomatoes
• squeeze of lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• pinch of salt

1. 1. 1. Slice the tomatoes into quarters. Don’t worry about peeling and coring, you will push it through a sieve later.
      2. Add to large Dutch Oven and cook for about 10-15 minutes until visibly softened..
      3. Carefully push all of the tomatoes through a food mill to separate the seeds and peels from the juice and meat. Discard the seeds and peels.
      4. Return to Dutch Oven and add the lemon juice, salt, and olive oil.
         Simmer, stirring occasionally until the volume reduces in half.
      5. Preheat oven to 300°F.
         Place the tomatoes on one or two sided cookie sheets and bake for another hour or two until a thick tomato paste is formed. Make sure to stir the contents every 15 minutes or so to prevent burns.
      6. Store in a clean jar in the refrigerator, or boil jar for 15 minutes for longer storage.