Making Passata

Last year we made about 20 bottles of passata. It didn't last long. We go through, on avarage, a bottle a week. It was fairly time consuming as, after heating the tomatoes, we only had a small sieve in which to strain out the skins and seeds.

So this year, knowing that we wanted to at least triple the amount of passata, I bought a passata machine....

I wanted something easy to use and easy to clean, stainless steel and didn't rely on electricity for power. This little hand powered machine fit the bill. A few days ago, while waiting for the machine to arrive, I hand strained a pot of tomatoes through the sieve. This machine is just so much quicker and less tiring.

So with a box of juicy, ripe red romas...

 

Mark and I spent half a day making passata. We cut the tomatoes into quarters and put them in a large heavy based pot and heat them through.

This just helps to get all the juice. From there straight into the machine. We put the pulp back through 3 more times to make sure we have as much liquid as possible. This goes back into the pot to be reheated so that it's nice and hot when it goes into the sterlized jars.



 

 

 

 We sterilize the jars in the oven so they are hot also. The lids are boiled on the stove top

 

 

 .

Once in the jars the lids are tightened and as it cools the lids pop and the jars are then sealed. If the lid doesn't pop then it can't be kept for an extended time, but can be kept in the fridge and used within the week.

We will be demonstrating this procedure as part of our Preserving The Harvest workshop on the 2nd February. More information  can be found on our  website.