Alright garden lovers! I don’t know about you but I always plant way too many tomatoes thinking “What if they die? Then i won’t have enough!”
This theory fails EVERY year! I always have way too many tomatoes but i refuse to waste! I spend most of my summer processing tomatoes every second day in some way. Naturally I have to get creative with how i’m using my tomatoes because wow! Tomato paste is one of the things I love to do to utilize my tomato plants! For more ways to use tomatoes up you can find more ideas on some of my other blog posts!
To make the tomato paste you basically need the tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, salt, and spices if so chosen (I personally love seasoning mine up). You will cut and de stem the tomatoes (some people like to deseed them too but i don’t mind the seeds) and throw in a large stock pot with the rest of the ingredients, you’ll let it cook down by about 1/4-1/2 then use an immersion blender to puree it. You can then let it cook down a bit more then you will transfer it to a baking sheet and stick in the oven until it cooks down by at least 1/2 again, you basically want a pasty consistency.
After that i like to scoop 1 tbsp or so into ice cube trays and freeze, you then pop it out and store in freezer ziploc bags and label with what it is and the date you made it. Voila! Easy tomato paste in the perfect sized cubes!
Ingredients:
- 10 lbs tomatoes
- 1 onion
- 1 head of garlic
- Splash of olive oil
- seasonings to taste (1-2 tsp each or fresh is best if you have)
- salt
- pepper
- paprika
- garlic powder
- thyme
- oregano
- pasley
- and whatever else you prefer ( I use lots of epicure)
Instructions:
- Wash the tomatoes, destem and cut up, cut up an onion and garlic
- Add all ingredients to a large stock pot and simmer on low-med heat for as long as needed to cook down by about half
- Puree with an immersion blender
- Let it cook down a bit longer than transfer to a baking sheet and bake in the oven on 375 degrees until cooked down to a paste like consistency (bake time varies by what variety of tomatoes you grew and their water content)
- Once at a good consistency take out of the oven and cool a bit
- Use 1 tbsp spoon and spoon into ice cube trays, stick in the freezer until frozen, then pop out and store in ziploc freezer bags labelled with the name and date you made it
Happy tomato paste making!