Lucy's Tomato Passata

One thing I have really enjoyed over the past few months is having a vegetable garden of my very own. Our own little patch of land meant that I went a little overboard at the garden store and ended up with more tomato plants than our household could handle.

Tomato harvest from the garden

The abundance of tomatoes provided the perfect opportunity to make some delicious passata for my Italian dishes.

Ready for the oven

Passata is traditionally made of uncooked tomatoes, pureed and strained of seed and skins. I usually buy these in big glass bottles from the supermarket but making my very own is so much better, wouldn't you agree?

My version of passata involves adding some capsicums and chilies for spice, herbs for flavour and some garlic for.. well.. some garlicky goodness! I also like to put it in the oven to mellow out the sharp tomato flavour. Cooking the tomatoes also means you can go ahead and puree the skins. The cooking fills the house with a fantastic aroma too!

Take advantage of the waning tomato season and make your very own passata. What kind of extras will you put in yours?

Lucy's Tomato Passata (makes 800mL)
A Lucyeats Original

Ingredients

2kg ripe tomatoes
2 capsicums
1 bulb garlic
2 green chili peppers
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons white sugar
Fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and basil
Salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2.  Cut tomatoes and capsicums into large pieces and place onto an oven tray. Break up the garlic bulb into unpeeled cloves and add to the tray.
3. Add remaining ingredients and toss gently.
4. Place the tray into the oven and bake for 1 hour or until tomatoes have become soft.
5. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for about 10-15 minutes.
6. Squeeze the flesh out of each garlic clove and discard the skins.
7. Place the tomatoes and garlic in a food processor and process to a puree.
8. Season with salt and pepper to taste if required.