With so many tomatoes this year, I wanted to try and make tomato paste. While searching online I found this recipe, the ingredients looked so simple, I just had to try it out. And guess what? It turned out freakin’ awesome!
Ingredients
5 lbs. tomatoes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus 2 tbsp.
Salt {to taste}
Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Wash and chop the tomatoes. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a skillet on high. Add tomatoes and season with salt. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook until super soft {about 10 minutes}.
Run the tomatoes through a food mill to get rid of seeds and skin {or use an immersion blender}. Rub a baking sheet {preferably with sides} with the remaining olive oil. Spread tomato puree over the sheet. Bake for about 2 hours at 300 degrees, turning the mixture over occasionally. After 2 hours, reduce heat to 250 degrees and continue to cook another 20-25 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and the watery consistency is gone.
Store the paste in the fridge for 1 month, or freezer for up to 6 months.
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Kim says
Everything looks SO good… I wish we could gre things like that, here in the desert! lol
Brenda says
Because of lack-of freezer space, I would be interested to know about canning this recipe. Does anyone have experience or advice on hot-water-bath (no pressure canner) canning of this or any other tomato paste.
Deanna Allen says
CAN YOU USE A FOOD DEHYDRATOR? WOULD IT BE OK TO CAN IT UP IN JARS FOR A LONGER SHELF LIVE??
Monica says
Thank you so, so, so, so much for posting this! I’ve looked around a lot for this recipe & couldn’t find anything that I was looking for, until I saw your site posted on Facebook this morning. I’ll be doing this with the rest of the tomatoes I have from the season
Amanda says
I’m having a great tomato year here in St. Louis as well! I have picked over 30 lbs of tomatoes so far and have twice as many out there that are still green. After my 25th tomato and cucumber salad I discovered matbucha…. Which is ah-mazing! I sorta followed this recipe only I blanched and peeled my tomatoes…
http://charlotteauchocolat.com/2011/10/27/perfect-matbucha/
Sooo good. I’ve been spreading it on pita bread like its going out of style. It’s makes an amazing spread for sandwiches or base for shakshuka, which you may also enjoy.
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2010/04/shakshuka/
I love your blog! I use your tips in my garden 🙂
Mavis Butterfield says
I’ll take a look, thanks Amanda. 🙂
Kimberly says
How much tomato paste does this make?
Mari says
Wondering exactly the same thing. Mavis??????
Jen says
Following!
Cecily says
I have made tomato paste only once in my life. It was rich, delicious and packed with intense tomato flavor and I will never do it again. I used an almost identical recipe to this, tomatoes, olive oil and salt. I cooked mine in a wide pot on the stove and after three hours of careful cooking down and frequent stirring to prevent burning, my five pounds of organic heirloom tomatoes had become 4 ounces of tomato paste. That’s right FOUR OUNCES! Sure it was good but I cringe at the amount of energy I used to make such a piddly amount of tomato paste. And since I only use tomato paste in sauces and not to eat plain it is not worth the effort to me. Maybe if I had used only paste tomatoes I would have gotten more paste in less time but I am not willing to test it.
felicia says
Love this! And if you tuck it in the freezer on the cookie sheet, get it firm and cut it into cubes! Perfect!
Carrie says
I buy large cans of tomato paste and freeze them in ice cube trays. No more mold growing cans of paste in the fridge and I always have cubes ready to pop into recipes.
Crystal says
Also interested in how much this makes and if water bath canning is an option. Thanks!!
Erin Ballard says
Instead of putting it in the oven, I put it in the crock pot, lid off on low, sir often. Seems a lot less hassle for me. I always use up my cherry tomatoes for paste.that way I don’t feel so bad about the concentration. I love knowing what I’m eating.