Passata comes from the word passare, which means “to pass” in Italian, and passata di pomodoro, often referred to as passata, is the name given to tomatoes that have been passed through a food mill, or through a gadget made especially for the task called a passapomodoro, or “tomato passer.” Anyone who has ever successfully tried to grow tomatoes or who has ever visited a farmers’ market in the late summer knows that when the time comes, you get all the tomatoes you could ever dream of—more than you could possibly eat or give away—and you get them all at once. During this time in the Italian countryside, they pass the tomatoes through the passapomodoro, which extracts the skin and seeds, and bottle the sauce that is extracted. A typical Italian larder might contain dozens of these bottles, which look like wine bottles and which allow cooks to use “fresh” tomato sauce year-round. Our passata is a little different from a traditional passata in that we cook it and season it to enhance the flavor, but it is still a very pure product.
Recipe information
Yield
makes about 1 quart
Ingredients
2
1
1
1
1
Need to make a substitution?
Preparation
Step 1
Pass the tomatoes, including their juices, through a food mill into a large bowl.
Step 2
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until the oil is almost smoking and slides easily in the pan, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomato purée slowly as it will splatter when it hits the oil. Stir in the sugar, salt, and pepper, and cook until the sauce thickens slightly, about 30 minutes. Use the passata or set it aside to cool to room temperature, then transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to several days or freeze for up to several months.