Tomato paste
The beliefMaking paste is imagined as days of boiling, sun-drying and wrestling with enormous trays.
The truthThe only job is taking the water out. Three hours in the oven or two days in the sun — the work is identical either way.
How to make it
What you need
- 5 kg ripe, meaty tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons of rock salt
- Olive oil, to cover
How the engine read this list (3 lines)
| 5000 g | Ripe, meaty tomatoes | tomato |
| 36 g | Rock salt | salt |
| — | Olive oil | olive-oil |
An empty weight means that line could not be turned into grams — either the amount is open ("to taste") or the ingredient has no record here. Neither enters the sum as zero; they do not enter it at all.
Chop the tomatoes roughly, scatter the salt over them and leave for half an hour. Osmosis pulls out some of the water before the heat does any work.
Blend or grate them, then push the pulp through a coarse sieve to leave the skins and seeds behind: the seeds bring bitterness, the skins a gritty texture.
Set aside half of the strained liquid. Reduce it separately or use it in soup — the less water goes into the tray, the less time the oven needs.
Spread the purée no more than two centimetres deep in a wide tray. Set the oven to 110–120 °C, wedge the door open with a wooden spoon and give it two to three hours, stirring every half hour.
It is ready when a spoon drawn through it leaves a track that does not close. Pack it hot into jars, level the surface, pour a centimetre of olive oil on top and only close the lid once it is cold.
The others that work the same way
Strawberry jam
The truthIt is a balance of three things: pectin, acid and sugar. Get the balance and it takes forty minutes.
Pomegranate molasses
The truthYou boil pomegranate juice down to a fifth. The only decision is when to stop.
Grape molasses
The truthThe grape’s own sugar is enough. You clarify the must with earth and boil it down to a third.