Make Your Own Tomato Paste - Estratto
September 20, 2009 
Can you stand another tomato recipe? I've been cooking a lot with tomatoes lately, but hey - everyone's got an excess of tomatoes right now. Some friends dropped off some of their tomato excess the other night to us (thanks, Brian and Diane!) and that was fine with me. What was I going to do with that many tomatoes? I was going to make my own tomato paste.
Why make your own tomato paste? Besides simply being a great way to find a use for all those tomatoes, homemade tomato paste is just such a different thing than the store bought, canned type. The flavor is so deep, so intense and concentrated, there really is no comparison. With just a little effort, you can take pounds and pounds of tomatoes and turn them into a small amount of outstanding tomato paste.
In Sicily when the tomatoes come in, they make estratto - it literally means "extracted". They take the tomatoes and extract the puree, salt it and then lay that out on a wooden table or board in the sun. The puree is turned over and over with a spatula and spread out again until eventually the sun has removed all the moisture from the puree. This can take about 2 days. You are left with a thick, dark paste that is called estratto. The estratto is then packed into jars, covered with oil and salt and placed in the refrigerator, where it can actually remain for up to a year. You can buy it but then you're still left with all those tomatoes.
Since the Michigan sun is not comparable to the sun in Sicily, I made my tomato paste in the oven, replicating what the sun does - drying out the tomato puree slowly until the moisture was gone. The result is an incredible tomato product that you won't believe. In Sicily, they add a little of this to their soups, sauces or stews. You can even spread some on a piece of bread or crostini, if you like. It's so delicious you will be tempted to eat it with a spoon.
The process is simple and not at all difficult. It just takes a long time in the oven. You will need a food mill in order to strain out the seeds and skin of the tomatoes. You can use a sieve and a spoon, but a food mill will make the process so much faster because of the quantity of tomatoes you will be working with.
Homemade Tomato Paste
for a printable recipe, click here
6-7 pounds of tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
3 heads of garlic, peeled and smashed
2 bay leaves
kosher or sea salt
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Place the tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and bay leaves in a large pot and cook, until tomatoes are softened, about 10 minutes. Place a food mill over a large bowl. Transfer contents of pot, in batches, to the food mill and extract the tomato puree by turning the handle of the food mill several times in one direction and then several times in the other direction. Repeat, until all the skins and seeds has been removed from all the tomatoes.
Lightly oil a baking sheet pan with olive oil. Spread out tomato puree and place in oven. Cook for about 2 hours and then turn over the puree with a spatula, spreading it out. Return to oven. Cook for another hour and turn puree over again. Cook until the puree has turned into a paste and is very thick, maybe an hour more.
Cool puree and store in a small glass jar in the refrigerator. You can top it off with a little olive oil and sea salt if you like. It will last for several months.
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Reader Comments (19)
Wonderful post! I had no idea it was so easy to make tomato paste. BTW- Your new blog home is lovely!
Oh this is fantastic! I, too, am quite happily drowning in tomatoes (thank you, garden), and have been wondering what to do with the last run of them. I'll have to try this!
Ciao Elaine! What a fab post! Can't wait to try this! Beautiful site you have!
Wonderful idea. I never even thought about making paste. Hey my information was saved, so that's cool.
our garden just gave us about 12 lbs or more of tomatoes so this is great. can i use canning jars?
ps - i love the photo of you and your mom, i remember her.
Isn't it amazing how 6-7 pounds of tomatoes can reduce to less than a half-cup of tomato paste? Such amazing flavor though.... I agree. Great post!
Brilliant, we're drowing in tomatoes and already have jars and jars of passata. Going to give this tomato paste a try, sounds fabulous
From The Italian Dish:
Jude: You sure can use canning jars, though 12 pounds of tomatoes will probably yield about a cup of tomato paste. Thanks for remembering my mom!
Elaine, your new blog is beautiful! Are you loving Squarespace?
I've never thought of making my own tomato paste, but it's an "Aha" moment! Beautiful photos.
I'm swimming in tomatoes so think I am going to do this - the baking sheet looks like the tomato paste is a little burned onto the baking sheet. Is that a problem and any tips to prevent that?
From The Italian Dish:
Michele: I think maybe I could have turned it over more often. I'm going to do that, the next batch I make. Good luck - you will love it.
I'd love to try this. Sadly this year I hardly have any tomatoes, but saving your instructions for next year.
Thanks for the recipe and thanks to a friend who introduced me to your blog. I am a grandchild of Greek and Italian, living in northern California. As a Slow Food leader and chef, I am a huge advocate of cooking and eating at home, not to mention having a kitchen garden. I will add the estratto to my passato production, as the base puree recipe is nearly identical to the one I received from my grandmother. Also, your Easter bread looks very much like my grandfather's from Crete, on their is braided long like challah and the eggs are always red. Such a short cultural difference between the Mediterraneam islanders!
From The ItalianDish:
Julia: Thanks and I loved reading about your food philosophy and family.
I was just thinking this week about trying to make my own tomato paste for the first time, and then your post appeared in my blogher links this morning. I'm going to give this a try soon!
Wow, Elaine! You made your own tomato paste! I should try this because I can't abide the stuff in the can. S
This sure beats out anything in a tube! You're amazing Elaine, and so is that vibrant color!
Great post! We don't use a whole lot of tomato paste, but we *do* still have a whole lotta tomatoes ;)
Btw will you be participating in the 2nd Annual O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Contest at my blog and at Ms Adventures in Italy again this year? You have until Sept 28th to come up with a fab O recipe...and there are prizes including signed copies of Gina DePalma's Dolce Italiano and Mario Batali's Molto Italiano :D
If you can't participate, feel free to spread the word--there are prizes for that too!
Lovely post, photos and fabulous advice on making home-made tomato paste....just like I make it at home that I learned from my iItalian family ancestors passed on to my mamma. What region of Italy are you from? Do you live in the States or in Italy? I'd love to hear from you, Roz (aka bella)