bottling passata

[pigletwillie]

Hi all

I have built a polytunel to grow suitable types of tommy farters in, to make passata out of such as san mazano and roma plus loads of basil.

Rather than freeze it all I would like to bottle a large portion (yes) of it for instant use and gifts.

Can I "pasturise" it by heating up the jars in boiling water for a few minutes and letting the jars cool. I do not (and dont want) a pressure cooker any suggestions would be gratefully recieved, and no Lizzie, putting the jars in the Grocks bra for an hour or so isnt quite what I had in mind.

Cheers

Piglet

[Malk]

I heat my jars in the oven and then put the hot passata inside. If they have the vacum seal they should pop to tell you they are air tight. They keep all winter long and I've never had any go off as long as I fill them to the top and put the juice in hot.

Good luck.

[lizzie]

Pigletwillie, what kind of a mind do you think I have?

Actually you're right but there you go. I'm not sure if Grock would consent to your request but you could always ask.

As for bottling the passata, what a fab idea. Wouldn't have thought of that, would have just frozen the stuff. I'll try what's suggested and see what happens.

Think i'll have to find more cupboard space with all the preserves etc that i'm going to do this year.

[The Grock in the Frock]

being the dumb person that i am......how do you make the stuff?i did make a great meal with it the other day,ill put it on recipies.and as for things in my bra,the ONLY thing that gets in there is the old mans ......wait 4 it ......CASH.

[pigletwillie]

When in France last year I picked up a passata maker (seeds of italy also do them) which you just half the tomatoes and pop them in a contraption that looks like a mincer but it puts all the pulp into a bowl and all the skins and seeds into another.

I then add chopped sweet basil and if required garlic and or roasted peppers and simmer until all thick and loveley, add salt and pepper to taste, bingo passata.

piglet

[The Grock in the Frock]

nice one.any chance of ye going back....and stayin.if the answer is no ...any chance of the web site address,pleeeeeeeese?

[pigletwillie]

Here it is Grock

www.seedsofitaly.sagenet.co.uk

any chance of any more photos of you in that leather shellsuit?

Piglet

[Guest]

Oh for pete's sake get a room, you two. Then we can all stop throwing up into our wheelbarrows.

[The Grock in the Frock]

calm down! calm down lar.piggy with or without the broom ta 4 the web site

[pigletwillie]

With the broom Grock, with the broom ,

did an anonymous guest say something or did I imagine it?

Anyway back to the passata, does anyone have any other variations on recipes to try?

Piglet

[Chez]

Hmmmm... no recipe Piglet, but a question. What's the difference between homemade tomato sauce and passata? Your passata recipe looks just like my tomato sauce recipe in content, apart from the method used to get there. Is it a difference in viscosity that does it? Texture? Or is that a very silly question?

[pigletwillie]

Hi Chez,

Whilst being no expert I think that the tomatoes used in passata are generally drier than ones you have in salads and not that nice to eat that way. The difference is that if you were to put the passata tomato pulp in a sieve, nothing would strain through, whereas eating tomato pulp would strain some watery juice.

However, it may be just snobbery and whats called tomato sauce in tescos is called passata in Waitrose.

The Roma and San marzano tomatoes are certainly marketed as "excellent for passata"

Can anyone else enlighten us?

Piglet

[Beccy]

Well I may be wrong but my understanding is that passata is sieved tomatoes, so the stuff Piglet is making isn't stricly speaking passata. And it has minimal cooking, just enough to preserve it safely. There is a continuum of preserved (usually tinned) tomatoes, whole peeled - chopped few seeds - sieved no seeds.

Get the HMSO book I witter on about, Home Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables, it tells you what you need to know and is cheap.

But the gist of it would be sterilise the jars/bottles and tops (easiest in the oven), heat your sieved tomatoes and keep them hot for a while, then bottle and seal while hot. If you re-use old bottles from bought passata the button will pop down as they cool as Malk said and you'll know you've got a good seal.

[Chez]

Thanks Beccy. Having trouble getting the HMSO book, but I am on the lookout for it.

[Malk]

Yes, it is sieved tomatoes. You strain off the seeds and skin and cook off a bit of the excess water (or not). You can also keep cooking it down until almost all the excess moisture is out and then freeze it, either in ice cube trays or as blobs on a cookie sheet and use it as tomato concentrate to thicken up dishes.

I thought about getting the seeds of italy machine, but got a Moulinex vegetable mill instead which is cheaper and more versatile because it can sieve other things and mash them down. Only problem with it is you have to have a bowl or pan it fits on.

Roma toms are good for passata, drier with less seeds so more meat.