Weekend Cooking: Tomato Puree
Buried in Tomatoes
It’s that time of year again when the tomatoes plants are falling over with ripe tomatoes. I only grew a few plants this year but they are very productive, the best crop I’ve had in years. Yesterday I collected two huge bowls full of ripe plum and better boy tomatoes.
Since so many have ripened at one time, I decided to make puree to freeze and store for later use in sauces, soups, chili, or other recipes. I tend to cook more once the weather cools down.
Recipe: Easy Tomato Puree
- Blanch ripe tomatoes in boiling water until the skins split, about 3 or 4 minutes
- Remove using a slotted spoon and let cool (or drop in ice water for a minute.
- Cut in half and peel off the skin
- Roughly chop and blend
- In a large pot boil down to desired consistency.
The puree can be used immediately in sauce, canned or stored frozen.
Tip: If there is too much water in the puree and you don’t want to spend hours boiling it (and besides that tends to ruin the tomatoes), ladle off the top inch or so of liquid in the pot. I reserve that for later use in soups.
Tools: The Macina-Legumi
To make the puree I have a very cool hand-operated food mill called the Macina-Legumi that does a wonderful job. It’s a little more work than an electric food mill or blender, but I like the results much better. It has three different size strainers and is very versatile.
Unfortunately I don’t know where it was purchased because I received it as a gift years ago. An online buying search doesn’t bring up any results other than eBay and a few sites in Italian.
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Under My Apple Tree 
Leslie, your tomatoes look wonderful. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
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I have missed the weekend cooking posts! Now that weather is starting to feel a bit like fall I get into my time to cook again mode…. the grill becomes optional 🙂
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I hear you! My stove gets dusty in the summer from lack of use. I have two grills and a side burner and come up with all kinds of creative ways to cook outside.
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This is perfect for all of those tomatoes coming out of the garden right now! They’re up to our ears 😉
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I love tomatoes. Really really love tomatoes. I could eat them for every meal. Your tomatoes are beautiful! I need to go to the farmers market Monday.
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I wish I could eat more of them everyday, but they are too acidic for me. That’s one of the reasons I puree them so I can have almost fresh tomato goodness all year long.
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neat! and the macina-legumi, presse-purée in French was a common kitchen utensils every household had in my younger days in France
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I love this food mill. It makes perfect puree . . . unlike my food processor which makes a mess. 🙂
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I have food gadget envy over your mill! I had a lot of tomatoes at the beginning of summer but then a combination of too wet weather and too hot have kind of slowed the growth. I love the idea of the frozen puree. A little bit of summer in winter sounds lovely!
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I haven’t done tomatoes for a few years, but I’ve always loved the flavour of home canned.
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Those tomatoes look delicious! My mother used to can tomatoes – whole, not as puree. So good in the winter.
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It’s not tomato season here would love to have a glut of htem. Cheers
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I’m jealous! It’s been so hot here that our tomatoes died off. Love your style.
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Your tomatoes look delicious! We’re getting some good stuff at our farmer’s market, but there’s nothing like homegrown. And – do you freeze the puree for later use?
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I freeze it for use in sauces, soups, and other recipes. I don’t trust my canning skills.
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Yay for tomato season! Our local crops were iffy because we had a lot of rain, but the plants recovered and we’ve had beautiful tomatoes. I like your sauce — what could be easier.
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I was also worried that we had too much rain this spring. Tomatoes usually dislike being too wet. But then all these beautiful tomatoes showed up in July just as the daily rain storms stopped.
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My one tomato plant has been much less productive than last year’s plants.
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Mine are falling over with fruit this year. I added six inches of new compost to the soil, and I think that made the difference.
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