Passata/Pesto - can you bottle/can your own?

daska

We love pesto and use a lot of passata in sauces and, as we now have a garden, we can grow the necessary basil and tomatos. I can't freeze it as I have very limited freezer space and no room for a second freezer. Could I bottle either of these? How?

moppet_217

I had an italian friend in australia whos family still have a tomato day. Where they made enogh passata, sauce etc for the year.

From Memory the passata went though a machine to be sived very fine. It was then bottled while hot and it was used throughout the year. Guess you could get the same results with sieve. Can not remebr the recipe but was something like chopped tomatos (skinned i think) and a few onions simmered for a while

Depends where you are in the country how easy it will be to grow your toms. In london two years ago we had more than we new what to with. Last year in yorkshire we did not get a single one from our greenhoue crop (all got blight) and the ones i tried outside flowered but that was it.

Can not help with the pesto recipe

craig777

Passata is made from just tomatoes, nothing else. Doing it at home would involve dunking the tomatoes in batches into boiling water for 30 secs so you can peel the skin off easily. Then they need to be passed through a mouli to create the passata (you don't want seeds in passata).

You need to use the right tomatoes for the best results too, in most cases, plum tomatoes will be best, the 'San Marzano' variety are especially good for making passata, but they don't taste the same grown in this country as they do when grown in the beautiful weather of southern Italy.

My mother-in-law, who happens to be Italian, makes up batches of passata and freezes it. I'm not sure how it would keep just kept in a jar at room temperature - I wouldn't want to try it, there would nothing worse than putting in all the effort of growing your own tomatoes and making the passata and then it going off after a month or so.

My only problem with making passata from home-grown tomatoes, or indeed ones you buy from shops in the UK, is that the passata is just not rich enough in flavour compared to what you'd buy in a jar. Obviously this is due to our climate and even shop bought tomatoes rarely have a decent flavour due to them being force grown in huge greenhouses out of growing season.

If you have any specific passata making questions, I'll speak to my mother-in-law tomorrow and ask her... there's not much an Italian woman doesn't know about making tomato based sauces!!

Growing loads of basil shouldn't be a problem and you'll end up with delicious pesto. I don't know if you have a recipe for pesto, but basically you'll need - basil, parmigiano-reggiano cheese, pine nuts and good quality extra virgin olive oil, also might need a bit of salt and pepper and even some garlic (not cheap making good pesto I'm afraid!). This will keep very well in jars because the oil acts as a preservative. My mother-in-law makes all sorts of vegetable mixtures and keeps them in jars full of oil - they keep for a few months.

daska

I would freeze it but can't. I've pickled (garlic, onions etc) and preserved (jam, marmalade) using old jam/pesto/sauce jars. But I haven't a clue about tomatos and pesto. I'm guessing I'd have to boil it in the jars in a pressure cooker or some such or it would go off very quickly. What did Italians do before freezers were invented?

Pink.

Hi daska,

These threads might help:

Home 'canning'

Has anyone made their own pesto?

Pink

craig777

You don't cook passata until you come to use it in your actual recipe. But I understand that you're thinking of cooking it with the thought that it might not go off as quick.

What I would do is make a jar of passata now with shop bought tomoatoes as a trial run. Once you have the tomatoes peeled and passed through a mouli, pour it into a sterilised jar nearly up to the top then carefully add oil to the top, this will stop air getting to the passata, then put the lid on. Hopefully the oil will stay at the top if your passata is thick enough - my mother-in-law pours oil into half used cans of tomato puree to stop the air getting to it and going off.

I stated above about using San Marzano tomatoes, this is because they have very little water inside them so you get a thicker passata. Our tomatoes in the shops here may not produce a thick enough passata, so the oil trick may not work, as the oil might just sink into the passata.

Penelope_Penguin

craig777 wrote: »

My only problem with making passata from home-grown tomatoes, or indeed ones you buy from shops in the UK, is that the passata is just not rich enough in flavour compared to what you'd buy in a jar. Obviously this is due to our climate and even shop bought tomatoes rarely have a decent flavour due to them being force grown in huge greenhouses out of growing season.

I'd disagree with you there My HG tomatoes have loads of flavour and I make plenty of tomato sauce every year :T OP, take a look at this thread on canning, for more information.

Storing pesto under oil at ambient temperature isn't recommended, due to a high risk of botulism. Sorry, can't find a link atm - I'll look agaon later.

Penny. x

daska

I looked through those before starting this thread - there's nothing about pesto :-(

craig777

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

I'd disagree with you there My HG tomatoes have loads of flavour and I make plenty of tomato sauce every year

I wouldn't disagree with you. My in-laws grow literally hundreds of tomato plants in their greenhouse and garden and make serious amounts of pasta sauce with good results.

I always tend to 'put down' tomatoes grown in this country because I've been lucky enough to taste home-grown tomatoes/pasta sauce when visiting relatives in Italy - the flavour is worlds apart, you just don't get the same flavour with tomatoes grown here, although this might also be to do with the different varieties they grow over there. I once nearly spat out a tomato when eating a salad because I thought it was off, the flavour was that intense and strong! Can take a bit of getting used to compared with tomatoes here.

champys

Every year, I make a passata-style substance by roasting my glut of tomatoes HFW style: cut them in half, 45 mins in oven - cut side up - sprinkled with garlic, salt, pepper and a little sugar. Then I whizz them in a blender and put still hot in preserving jars with a little salt and lemon juice to conserve. I 'can' the substance in batches in my pressure cooker and use it all winter in any recipe requiring passata or tinned tomatoes. It works great and doesn't take up space in the freezer - also it is nice to have it available as liquid and not having to defrost it first.

craig777

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

Storing pesto under oil at ambient temperature isn't recommended, due to a high risk of botulism.

hmmm, on second thoughts, just make it and eat it fresh straightaway!

Botulism can occur with canned foods that contain little acid, so passata should be ok due to the acid content of the tomatoes... but don't hold me responsible if you get botulism!

Thinking about it, the jars of oil covered veggies that my mother-in-law makes do contain some vinegar, pretty sure I remember her telling me that, which would help with the preserving.