Traditional Tomato Paste Receipe

Ingredients

2 kg of Fresh Ripe Organic Tomatoes, Roma or Acid Free Tomatoes because they have the highest ratio of flesh to water

1 kg of Organic Beef Steak Tomatoes (to add flavor)

3 large Organic Sweet Red Capsicums

2 or 3 Organic Bay or Laurel Leaves

1/2 a cup of Organic Lemon or lime Juice

1    tbsp Organic Whole Peppercorns

2   or 3 Organic Cloves (optional)

2 tbsp Cold Pressed Coconut Oil

Method

If you wish to peel the tomatoes place them a few at a time in boiling water for about 1 minute then drop them into icy water, the skins will come right off, you can do the same with the capsicum.

Remove the white hard parts of tomatoes and capsicums, then chop them up into small pieces.

Place the coconut oil in a large heavy bottomed saucepan, when it’s hot add the capsicums and sauté them until tender, add the tomatoes, bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves and lemon juice and continue simmering until the tomatoes breakdown and become soft about 30 minutes.

Put the mixture through a sieve to remove their seeds, herbs and any hard bits, and then blend the mixture with an immersion mixer or in a blender to make a smooth paste.

Reduce the mixture by either putting it in a crock-pot on the lowest setting or in a large heavy bottomed saucepan on the lowest heat setting possible with the lid off, stirring every 1/2 hour to avoid burning.

The mixture should be just under the boil, reduce the mixture in this way until the tomato paste becomes thick enough not to slump, this can take anywhere from 2 hours to 7 or 8 hours or more, depending on how much liquid is in the mix to start with. When reduced to the consistency you are happy with allow to cool.

An alternative method is to place the tomato puree into oven dishes at a depth of 5cm (1in)and reduce it in the oven @ 110 degC (250 degF) until it reaches your desired thickness this takes about 2 hours depending on the liquid content.

Tomato Paste can be kept in refrigerator for several days or frozen in small batches for months or use 2 tbsp of mesophilic culture when it has cooled and follow the directions in the introduction.