Passata making - preserving and jarring tomato sauce
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:48 amJuly 2008
I've commenced making my first batch of passata to keep us going in tomato sauce throughout the year. I need a break from chopping tomatoes so thought I'd start a thread to record my progress. Expect updates throughout the day.
1. After picking tomatoes, it's good to lay them out somewhere for a day or so, as it helps intensify their flavour and makes the sauce less watery.
2. Then it's time to wash, dry and cut tomatoes. Cut out any bad or blemished bits ( a nice treat for the chucks).
Too tired to post last night. But this was the result of day ones efforts.
When you've cut sufficient toms it's time to break them down a bit by boiling them. When you add more to the pan give it a good stir so they all get a chance to cook a little.
Then it's time to run them through the passata machine. I used a big sieved spoon to hook them out (this way you'll keep liquid to a minimum and end up with lovely pulpy sauce. We were given the hand passata machine from a neighbour who now has an electric one. It looks pretty ancient but does the job. Once you've run your pulpy tomatoes through it's a good idea to run the discarded skins through the machine again as a lot of flavour is contained in them. This what I'm doing here.
If you want to thicken your sauce further or add any flavourings you can do this by boiling your sauce before bottling. I just add salt at this stage as I prefer to add onions, herbs etc just before I serve a dish. Once you are happy with the flavour and consistency of your sauce, it's time to bottle it in sterilsed jars. Fill sauce to just below the thread. Close lids and place in a ban maire. Ensure threads are clean! Cover jars by a couple of inches. When the water is boiling, leave it to boil for around 30 minutes. Turn off heat and leave over night. We'd normal do this outside over a wood fire but it was really windy yesterday.
The following day, take the jars out of the water and you should be able to tell instantly if they have sealed correctly. If they haven't, you can either repeat the ban marie process, freeze the sauce or stick the unsealed jars in the fridge to use within the week.
I've commenced making my first batch of passata to keep us going in tomato sauce throughout the year. I need a break from chopping tomatoes so thought I'd start a thread to record my progress. Expect updates throughout the day.
1. After picking tomatoes, it's good to lay them out somewhere for a day or so, as it helps intensify their flavour and makes the sauce less watery.
2. Then it's time to wash, dry and cut tomatoes. Cut out any bad or blemished bits ( a nice treat for the chucks).
Too tired to post last night. But this was the result of day ones efforts.
When you've cut sufficient toms it's time to break them down a bit by boiling them. When you add more to the pan give it a good stir so they all get a chance to cook a little.
Then it's time to run them through the passata machine. I used a big sieved spoon to hook them out (this way you'll keep liquid to a minimum and end up with lovely pulpy sauce. We were given the hand passata machine from a neighbour who now has an electric one. It looks pretty ancient but does the job. Once you've run your pulpy tomatoes through it's a good idea to run the discarded skins through the machine again as a lot of flavour is contained in them. This what I'm doing here.
If you want to thicken your sauce further or add any flavourings you can do this by boiling your sauce before bottling. I just add salt at this stage as I prefer to add onions, herbs etc just before I serve a dish. Once you are happy with the flavour and consistency of your sauce, it's time to bottle it in sterilsed jars. Fill sauce to just below the thread. Close lids and place in a ban maire. Ensure threads are clean! Cover jars by a couple of inches. When the water is boiling, leave it to boil for around 30 minutes. Turn off heat and leave over night. We'd normal do this outside over a wood fire but it was really windy yesterday.
The following day, take the jars out of the water and you should be able to tell instantly if they have sealed correctly. If they haven't, you can either repeat the ban marie process, freeze the sauce or stick the unsealed jars in the fridge to use within the week.
Brilliant effort ... oh to live abroard 
