How to Make Passata at Home

This guide shows you how to make fresh home-made passata, from choosing tomatoes and equipment to bottling the sauce. It is January and this summer has been hot and perfect for culinary experiments. We have been receiving a lot of questions about tomato sauces, so here are the questions we are going to answer.

What is passata?

Passata is an uncooked tomato purée that has been strained of seeds and skins. Though passata has Italian roots, in different forms it is used across Europe and in Mediterranean dishes. Passata need not always be smooth. Depending on the method of preparation, it can be chunky, sweet or tangy.

When is the right time of year to make passata?

Traditionally, passata is made right at the end of summer, when there's a heap of ripe, juicy tomatoes. It's put into bottles so you don't need electricity to keep it frozen all year.

Why is home-made passata better?

Passata made at home is healthier, fresher and many times more delicious than store-bought passata. Here are a few reasons why:

• It is processed with less heat, which ensures that nutrients are not lost in the cooking process.
• All the ingredients used at home are natural and preservative-free, and they add original flavour to the passata. With commercially produced passata, a lot of sugar is often added. Also, to get maximum yield, companies allegedly add harsh chemicals like caustic soda, as well as other preservatives. This is harmful and could lead to health issues when consumed often.

Where can I find awesome tomatoes?

Passata is a simple thing to make, but if the main ingredient is not great, it can affect the sauce's overall flavour. Oval-shaped plum tomatoes are perfect for sauces and are full of flavour. They have few seeds and more flesh. In Melbourne, the Roma tomato is a crowd favourite and is found in abundance. Many people believe that only home-grown tomatoes yield great passata. However, given the climatic challenges involved in growing them and the quantity needed to make huge passata batches, many folks prefer to buy tomatoes from local vendors.

What equipment do you need to make amazing passata at home?

How much passata you wish to make and preserve will determine how much planning you need to do. Small families who wish to make passata just for a couple of months can use manual tomato presses to make the sauce. These small machines require human effort and are perfect for producing small quantities. They can either be clamped to the table with screws or are bench-top models. Here is one such manual machine:

But what about people who wish to make large batches of passata and store it for the whole year? A manual machine is not sufficient for such connoisseurs. Top brands like Fabio Leonardi have sturdy, durable electric tomato sauce machines. The machine has multiple parts: motor, bowl, cone, collector, splash guard and so on. All of these parts can also be purchased separately later. Each part can be removed, cleaned and tucked away after each tomato season. These machines are an investment and last for a very long time. Here is one such electric passata machine:

Additional equipment needed: plunger, strainer, buckets, bottles, caps, cappers and burners.

Ingredients and equipment checklist

• Large cooking pot
• Tomato press / food mill
• Funnel
• Sterilised bottles with caps
• Tomatoes
• Basil
• Salt

What is the recipe for traditional passata?

Pomodoro is the Italian word for tomato, and 'Tomato Sauce Day' or 'la giornata del pomodoro' is celebrated by many Italian families to this day. Grandparents and other family members come together in the family backyard or garden and make traditional passata from scratch. Most families have their own recipes and methods of preparation. In this blog we wish to provide one such recipe, but we also want to give it a modern twist with a few tips and tricks.

There are three stages to making perfect passata.

1. Preparing the tomatoes

• Check the tomatoes thoroughly. Pull out the stems and throw away rotten or damaged tomatoes. For great flavour and long-lasting sauce, use perfectly healthy tomatoes.
• After finding perfect fruit, wash it and rinse it in clean water.

2. Making the sauce

• All electric machines have a cone. This cone is sensitive, and for it to last you should always blanch the tomatoes before processing them. To blanch, bring the tomatoes to the boil and simmer for approximately 20 minutes, until the skins have softened and split.
• Strain the fruit.
• Remember, never run a tomato machine dry, as this harms the machine. Pass olive oil and bread through to clean the machine. Otherwise, you could use a few tomatoes to kick-start the process. However, without fail, this batch must be thrown away.
• Once the machine is cleaned, pass the whole, blanched fruit through the machine to remove both skins and seeds. This step is the same for manual and electric machines. Just ensure you are using the right motor and sauce machine for the quantity of sauce you wish to make.
• Continue to pass the pulp through the press until all of the flesh is removed. You will know when it is done, as the skins and seeds will be dry.
• Traditionally, only two ingredients are required to make passata: tomatoes and salt. While the tomato is the hero ingredient, salt also plays a vital role. It’s added to the passata just before pouring and sealing the bottles, to season the sauce and help preserve it so that it will last up to three years.

3. Bottling the sauce

• Bottling is a straightforward process, but it takes time and needs to be done carefully.
• For maximum flavour, place fresh basil leaves in the base of every sterilised bottle. We recommend one leaf before filling the sauce and one after (just before capping).
• Fill with pulp, leaving approximately 2.5 cm of space between the sauce and the top of the bottle.
• Secure the lids.
• Fill a large pot with water and immerse the sauce bottles, covering them completely.
• Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Do not keep the pot on high heat. Remember, these bottles are made of glass and the temperature needs to be controlled.
• Allow the sauce bottles to cool.
• Refrigeration is not necessary. Your sauce is now ready. Store it in a cool, dark place, and open a bottle to use at any point over the year.

Do you have any tips for first-time passata makers?

Yes, here are a few Artisan Bottega tips

1. Buy a machine based on your needs.

• Small quantities: manual machine or small electric machines
• Large quantities: large electric machines

2. Never run a tomato machine dry.

• Use bread and olive oil or a trial batch of blanched tomatoes.
• Coat the cone with olive oil for maximum yield.

3. Blanch tomatoes before passing them through any tomato sauce machine. This makes the machine's job easier and helps extend its life.

4. Use one basil leaf before and one after filling the bottle to get maximum flavour into your passata.

5. Detach each part, wash it thoroughly, then clean and dry it before putting it aside for next year. Any moisture left on the machine could cause corrosion.

6. The tomato machine can be used to make other sauces and juices as well.

The procedure and tips are the same for other fruits as well. Buon appetito!