Space-saving concentrate to keep you going during winter
Home-grown tomato gluts are a fact of life if you grow a reasonable amount of plants – here’s how to cope with an influx of fruit. Freezing is the obvious answer – concentrating the tomatoes into a paste so they take up as little room as possible. Read more on growing tomatoes. Taste and variety choice is all-important. See my post on Burpee’s tomatoes.
Tomato gluts – Basic tomato paste
I leave the skins on, which wouldn’t please Italian purists, but I like it, and you keep more fibre that way. Only use a pinch of sugar if your tomatoes are tasteless. Feel free to leave the odori out if you can’t be bothered – the paste will be an ingredient in something else anyway.
- Odori: one onion, carrot, a stick of celery, finely chopped; a bunch of flat-leaved parsley, chopped; 1-3 cloves garlic, according to taste
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3lb ripe tomatoes washed
- Salt, pepper, and sugar (optional), to taste
In a wide, shallow non-stick stockpot, fry the odori in the oil over a medium heat until soft. Add small tomatoes whole or roughly chop large fruits, removing any hard core.
Allow the whole fruits to pop their skins and cook down a little over a medium heat, then with a potato masher, gently squash the fruit to extract their juice. (Don’t go mad, or you’ll get it in your eye. It stings, I know.)
Season with salt and pepper. If your tomatoes are very acidic or (heaven forbid) the tasteless supermarket variety, a large pinch of sugar will balance acidity or boost flavour. Leave to reduce on very low heat with the pan lid off for a couple of hours – or longer, stirring occasionally, until as thick as chutney.
Pack into freezer bags (to save space), cool completely, label and freeze. A box the size of a Chinese takeaway carton will serve a family as a sauce base for pasta – remember, it’s very concentrated.
