PASSATA

I was taught how to bottle puréed tomatoes by two lovely friends, Jessica and Laura, who are absolute pros and make it all look really easy. That’s because it is. The catch is you need to be organised and not attempt it alone – I tried that one year with a toddler underfoot and nearly had a nervous breakdown. So, get yourself organised, invite a bunch of mates over, and have a crack at it with plenty of food and booze on hand to smooth the way.

Passata is best made with San Marzano or Roma (plum) tomatoes as these have a lower water content than other varieties and cook down to a beautiful sweet mess. You can order them from your greengrocer from mid summer.

I sterilise my jars using a sterilising solution from a home-brewing shop, but you could also sterilise them as you would jars for jam . You’ll also need a huge saucepan or stockpot to boil all the filled bottles or jars in (they need to be fully submerged), or you can use several smaller pans and pasteurise the bottles in batches.

MAKES: 10–12 x 750 ml (26 fl oz) bottles

INGREDIENTS

10 kg (22 lb) vine-ripened San Marzano or Roma (plum) tomatoes; each 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) tomatoes should yield about one 750 ml (26 fl oz) bottle or jar of passata

sea salt

EQUIPMENT

large saucepan for blanching tomatoes

slotted spoon or scoop

large bowl, lined with a tea towel; or alternatively you can use a colander

a second large bowl

passata machine (known in Italian as a passapomodoro) or food mill funnel

funnel and ladle

10–12 sterilised brown or green 750 ml (26 fl oz/3 cup) bottles, plus metal bottle caps and capping machine (or you can use ordinary mason jars or bottles with sterilised sealable lids)

very large pan or stockpot to pasteurise the bottled tomatoes in; check all the bottles will fit inside, standing up or lying down flat

tea towel

PASSATA METHOD

1.

Prepare the tomatoes: Wash the tomatoes to remove any dirt. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, then add about 10 tomatoes and leave for 1 minute, or until the skins blister slightly. Using a slotted spoon or scoop, transfer to a bowl lined with a tea towel to soak up any excess water, or place in a colander over the sink. Squeeze out the juice: Over another large bowl, squeeze the cooled tomatoes with your hands. You want to break them up and release the seeds and juice, but keep the flesh and skins.

2.

Process the tomatoes: Put the squeezed tomatoes into your passata machine or food mill and crank the handle. The puréed tomatoes will come out one side, the seeds and skins the other. Put the skins and seeds back through the machine to extract as much of the good stuff as possible, then discard. Repeat with remaining tomatoes: Repeat steps 1–3 with another batch of tomatoes until you are finished; after a few batches, you’ll need to pour the passata into a larger bowl or saucepan, ready to be decanted into the bottles. Add salt: Add a good pinch of salt to the puréed tomatoes (or to taste).

3.	Bottle: Using a funnel, ladle the passata into sterilised brown or green bottles, leaving about 3 cm (1¼ inches) at the top of each. Wipe the rims clean with paper towel.

4.	Cap: Put a metal cap on the bottle and push down to seal, using a capping machine. If you are using jars, pour the passata into the jars, leaving 1 cm (½ inch) at the top of each. Tap gently to make sure there are no air bubbles, wipe the rims clean of wayward tomato juice and screw the lids on.

5.

Pasteurise the bottles: This next step is important to pasteurise the passata, which makes it ‘shelf stable’ for up to 1 year. Grab a very large saucepan or stockpot, making sure it is tall enough to hold the passata bottles standing upright and for them to be covered by water (including the lids); you could also lay the bottles flat, in layers. Place a tea towel in the bottom of the pan, to stop the bottles breaking as they jostle around in the boiling water. Carefully fill with the passata bottles. If you are nervous that they may rattle against each other and break, you can put each bottle in a sock before gently lowering them in. Fill the pan with cold water and bring to the boil; this can take a few hours. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Leave in the pan to cool to room temperature – this takes ages, so I just leave them overnight. Remove the bottles from the pan. Dry, label and store in a cool dark place for up to 1 year. Once opened, store in the fridge and use within 1 week.