Tomato Passata!

We went away for four days and in that time the tomatoes have exploded on the bushes.  We have yellow egg tomatoes and large red cherry.  The bushes came up by themselves in different areas of the garden and we just let them grow.  We have tried growing other varieties of tomatoes in the vegetable plot with very little  success.  So this morning I went out and picked these little gems.  I ended up with three kilograms!  I have already slow-roasted a large amount of tomatoes so this time I made tomato passata.  The recipe takes very little time make and the slowest part, by far, is cutting those little tomatoes in half!  Here is the end result.

The recipe came from Annabel Langbein - The Free Range Cook.

Here is the recipe (adapted for 3kg tomatoes).

TOMATO PASSATA
3kg large tomatoes (I of course used cherry tomatoes)
6 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons tomato paste
18 basil leaves
1.5 teaspoons salt
1.5 teaspoons sugar
lots of ground black pepper

If you are using large tomatoes, peel and dice them.  For cherry tomatoes, just cut in half.  Place all the ingredients in a large pot and simmer over a gentle heat for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Cool the sauce, then pass through a mouli or puree in a food processor.  Pour into clean jars.  The passata will keep in the fridge for over a week or can be frozen for later use.  Recipe makes about 9 cups.

I use this sauce for so many different recipes.  Tonight I am having guests for dinner so the lasagne I made was based on this sauce, as are my bolognese.  I make a mean eggplant parmigiana using the passata and also use it tossed with home made pasta for a very quick meal.  It is a very versatile sauce and well worth the effort of making.