Wednesday, August 13, 2008

You Say Puree, I Say Passata!

Remember that pile of Summer's bounty I wrote about a couple days ago, the one that came in the form of a ton of tomatoes? Well, I'm finally getting around to writing about what I did with them all, and it's so simple it's inane. I threw them in my slow cooker with a head of garlic, turned it on, and walked away for 12 hours. I'm a genious.

Slow cookers are God's gift to the lazy chef. Especially when the lazy chef is me, and the recipe has a grand total of two - yes, two - ingredients! Heck, you can even get away with just the tomatoes in this recipe, but you know me... I'm a garlic freak! Since the puree (essentially the purest form of crushed tomatoes you can make) is unsalted, unpeppered, unherbed (well, apart from the garlic) and totally smooth, it's the perfect base for your favourite pasta sauce, soup or stew. I, for one, have plans for an eggplant casserole, and I'm sure that once my garden spits out another load of goodies I'll have to put together a lasagne or two!

The only things you need for this sauce are a sharp knife, a large slow cooker, and a food mill (either manual or electric). The one I used is plastic and metal, and cost $6 downtown (my dad got it for me on our Chinatown trip). It's one of my favourite pieces of equipment. The pulpy bits of skin and seeds left behind I scattered back into my garden... instant compost!

Passata al Pomodoro
Makes 13 half-cup servings
2 1/2 kg fresh tomatoes, chopped
10 cloves garlic
  1. Place all ingredients in a crockpot.
  2. Cover and cook on HI for 8 hours, stirring occasionally (if you happen to be around).
  3. Process through a food mill, discarding skins and seeds, and place puree back into the crockpot (it will be very watery).
  4. Cook, uncovered, on HI for a further 4 hours, stirring every hour, until thickened and reduced.
  5. Portion into bottles and store in fridge or freezer (if you don't want to can it properly - I never do).
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 43.8
Total Fat: 0.6 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 17.7 mg
Total Carbs: 9.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.2 g
Protein: 1.8 g

3 comments :

  1. hey this sounds really good i still cant believe how much tomatoes went into this lol

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  2. Sounds yummy! But you shouldn't be afraid to can it - only, it has to be canned with a pressure-canner, because there are no acidity enhancers (such as sugar).

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  3. Nicely done!

    I love my crock pot - pots!

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Thanks for the feedback!