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What is Passata? Passata is a sort of tomato paste. Passata is just sieved tomato pulp. It can be bought in packets or jars in supermarkets and delis; there are various brands including store own brands and prices vary. It is usually stocked near to the pasta sauces and tomato purees. You can dilute it; add herbs, sugar, whatever to the pulp later depending on the recipe. It is easy to make homemade passata! Any variety of tomato will do, even green if you want tart green sauce. If you grow tomatoes, you might like to try plum tomatoes. The amount of tomatoes you need depends on the amount of tomato pulp required: Use about 1 pound (of tomatoes for a 4 person serving recipe.
If using fresh tomatoes pierce the skin with the point of a sharp knife, put the tomatoes into a deep casserole (pan whatever) of very hot boiled water, off the heat, on a flat surface. Cover with a lid and leave for about a minute until the skin starts to split, then, with a large spoon to take out each tomato, peel the skin off. You may need to change the water for fresh hot boiled water to get the remaining tomatoes to peel easily: as the water cools, the peel hardens and it becomes harder to strip off.
Put the tomatoes, a few at a time, into a sieve (wire or plastic), placed over a bowl and use some kind of pestle (Use the end of a rolling pin (pastry roller)); gently push the tomato flesh through the sieve by rubbing with the pestle in a side to side motion; the pulp is caught in the bowl below leaving the seeds behind in the sieve. The pulp in the bowl is the passata. Or you could chop the tomatoes very finely; first remove the skins and seeds.
You could sieve tinned tomatoes after removing the seeds, or tinned chopped tomatoes which have the skins and seeds removed, however these are more expensive.
Some people suggest using tomato juice or diluted tomato paste as a substitute but don't unless it's an absolute emergency because the best results are from either shop bought product or fresh tomatoes. In general, don't substitute tomato paste for passata unless it calls for a very small amount, as tomato paste is both too concentrated and too sweet to stand in for large quantities of passata.
Here is a good, easy Passata Recipe
Ingredients:
2 or 3 oz of pancetta, chopped
1 carrot, chopped fine
1 onion, chopped fine
1 celery stalk, chopped fine
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup very dry red wine
1 cup tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
Directions:
Blend the pancetta, carrot, onion, and celery in a food processor and mill until fully chopped.
Into a pan with the olive oil add the mix of chopped ingredients. Add a cup of very dry red wine and a cup of tomato sauce, and cook until pork is tender and liquid reduced, about 1-1/2 hours. Remove the pork and use for anything you like.
Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of tomato paste at a time and cook until drying. Add more, and do this over and over until the entire can is incorporated.
The resulting passata will be brownish, shiny, and very concentrated, and can be used for many different dishes. It should be refrigerated in a glass container, and will keep for several weeks.
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 Resources: Excerpted from “Food For Thought Series” by Arlene Wright-Correll
For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/ and click on Arlene’s Books you can download or buy my gardening & cook books. All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and we thank you for your attention to this site.
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