Tomato Paste
"The Middle Eastern Vegetarian Cookbook"
"One small spoon of this transforms any dish. Just thinking about rich and savory tomato paste (puree) makes my mouth water. In Lebanon, of course, we would dry it in the sun, so it would last longer. Start with good ripened tomatoes and you will still get something delicious, even if you live somewhere cooler." — Salma Hage
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 lb ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
Method
Put the tomatoes into a large saucepan, cover, and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for another 1 hour 20 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Pass the tomatoes through a fine strainer (sieve) into a bowl to remove the skin and seeds.
Spoon the paste into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. Use within a few days.
Excerpted from The Middle Eastern Vegetarian Cookbook by Salma Hage (Phaidon Press). Copyright © 2016. Photographs by Liz and Max Haarala Hamilton.
Yield
3/4 cup
