Making Tomato Passata

Tomato passata is a smooth, raw tomato puree made from fresh or frozen tomatoes which have been strained to remove their seeds and skins. It has a velvety texture and is a staple in Italian cuisine, used as a base for sauces, soups, and other dishes. It is sometimes labeled as "strained tomatoes" and differs from tomato sauce because it is generally not cooked down and is thinner.  I use my homegrown Roma tomatoes, frozen and thawed (the freezing process softens the tomatoes and makes processing a breeze). The thawed tomatoes are then passed through a food mill.  Food mills are inexpensive and can often even be found for sale on sites like Marketplace or Kijiji.  The freezing process was super simple, just pick the ripe tomatoes, remove stems, wash and store in reusable freezer bags until needed.  No coring, peeling or seeding required.  Any good paste tomatoes will do, as long as they are very ripe.  If you have the time to roast your tomatoes before freezing, this adds an extra dimesion that is very tasty.  I usually skip the roasting step, beacause harvest time is so busy and I'm often drowning in tomatoes; it's all I can do to just get them into the freezer.  Come later in the fall, it's super easy to make the passata, which I then simmer for about an hour, to develop a richer flavour, before ultimatley adding to dishes, such as my Chicken Tortilla Soup.  The flavour is far and away superior to any store-bought passata I've tried.

To do this yourself, you'll need defrosted tomatoes, a large strainer, a food mill, and optionally, a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, plus a bowl for discards.  See the steps to follow below.