Tomato Paste

Our tomato plants, which until recently have been neglected, have started producing like crazy. Last week I picked about 6 lbs of tomatoes from our various plants. On Saturday I picked another pound and began the process of making my first every batch of tomato paste.

I roasted them  in the oven for about an hour. Then I pulled them out and lightly pureed with my immersion blender, and then began the tedious job of pressing them through a sieve to separate out the peels and seeds.

Yeah. I really need a food mill. This part SUCKED.

Then I spent a gajillion hours reducing my paste. Until eventually it was Sunday morning and I had about 16 ounces of tomato paste to can up.

That is right folks... 5 lbs of tomatoes + hours of work = 16 ounces of paste.

I have FOUR of these 4 ounce beauties now...

But, it was worth it. And I was only 2 hours late for a party.