A question about pureeing tomatoes was asked on the Cheftalk cooking forums:
Any suggestions on how to successful puree fresh tomatoes without incorporating too much air into them?
Now, I really don’t have a recipe, pe se, but I recently read about this in the ‘WichCraft book that I reviewed a while back. Here is the method:
Roasted Tomatoes by WordRidden of Flickr Fame
Oven Roasted Tomatoes
Ingredients:
- Roma Tomatoes
- extra-virgin olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- garlic cloves
- thyme sprigs
Method:
- Cut tomatoes in half through the vine end.
- Toss with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Lay cut side down on a baking sheet with some parchment paper.
- Toss in sprigs of thyme and cloves of garlic.
- Roast 10 minutes at 175°C (350°F) until the skins are blistered.
- Remove the skins, then lower the temp in the oven to 135°C (275°F).
- Pour off the liquid of the tomatoes and reserve.
- Continue roasting the tomatoes, pouring off the liquid every 20 minutes for an additional 40-50 minutes. The tomatoes should be almost dry at this point.
- Remove garlic cloves – reserve for another use.
- Remove thyme sprigs.
To answer the question of the poster, he could puree the roasted tomatoes and have a deep, rich flavor. Note, a bit of the reserved tomato liquid could be used to thin the consistency of the paste.
You can also freeze the tomatoes like that, and they will keep up to six months in the freezer.
