Classic tomato paste

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make tomato paste? Gather all the ingredients. The main one, of course, is tomatoes. They should be ripe and meaty. I suggest choosing them by smell — really good tomatoes have a strong tomato aroma. I'm using apple cider vinegar, but ordinary 6-9% table vinegar works too. If you have vinegar essence, dilute it 1 part to 9.

2. Step 2:

   

   Drop the tomatoes into boiling water for about 5 minutes, then remove the stem ends and slip off the skins.

3. Step 3:

   

   Roughly chop the tomato flesh.

4. Step 4:

   

   Peel and roughly chop the onion.

5. Step 5:

   

   Put the tomato flesh in the pot you'll cook the paste in and simmer it over the lowest heat for 5 minutes, then add the onion and simmer them together. Pour off the juice that releases.

6. Step 6:

   

   Blend everything smooth with a blender. You could of course run it through a meat grinder, but moving the hot mixture back and forth isn't very appealing.

7. Step 7:

   

   Add the sugar and salt to the tomato puree.

8. Step 8:

   

   Add the bay leaf. If you like, add other spices too: allspice, chili, dried dill or parsley — whatever you fancy.

9. Step 9:

   

   Cook over low heat until the paste reaches the thickness you want. It took me about 2 hours.

10. Step 10:

    

    At the end of cooking, add the vinegar.

11. Step 11:

    

    Sterilize the jars however is easiest for you. I pour a little water into the jars and microwave them for 5-7 minutes. The lids just need to be boiled.

12. Step 12:

    

    Ladle the hot tomato paste into the sterilized jars and seal them tightly. This preserve doesn't need processing in a water bath. Tomato paste keeps in an ordinary cupboard, no refrigerator needed.

13. Step 13:

    

    Enjoy!