Passata di pomodoro

Those who read my blog regularly may know that I am not only an onion junkie, but I am also absolutely mad about tomatoes. A friend of mine told me, that I spend more money on vegetables than a normal woman on shoes. Well, he might be right...and I don't mind it! Especially, in summer when all those wonderful heirloom veggies are available! There are two places where I usually buy tomatoes, and those you can call a real paradise! One is a tiny organic shop that sells about 5 kind of tomatoes and about 8 types of cocktail tomatoes the whole summer and the begining of autumn, and another farmer's shop that sells at least 6 varieties from Green Zebra to St. Pierre.


In the past, I hated cooked tomatoes, meanwhile I love it and can't get enough of pasta with any kind of tomato sauce. After all I have missed it for long years! Anyway, I used to buy one special passata di pomodoro, but the shop where I bought it has closed, and I haven't found it nearby. Since then, I have tried several other types, but none of them was at least half that tasty like that one and most have anyway citric acid (and rarely even other ingredients) in it, where that specific one had only tomatoes and salt. And an amazing taste!


Lately, I have had enough of experimenting, so I decided to cook my own. I was sure, that it is not gonna taste like that magical one, and it doesn't, but it is still gorgeous in comparison to the rest of the available tomato purées. Besides I have the possibility to experiment with all the different kind of tomatoes. I have cooked the passata only with a little salt, no further herbs or spices, these I am gonna add while cooking with it, depending on what I am going to prepare.


Ingredients:
500 g tomatoes
50 ml water
1 teaspoon salt

Dice tomaotes and together with the water and the salt, bring it to the boil, puree and sieve to remove any rests of the skin. Put it back to the pot and bring it once more to the boil, fill it hot into bottles and let them cool covered by a blanket over night. It should keep for several months if the bottles were sterlized before. In case you do not trust it that way, freeze it.