Crushed Tomatoes
Just like Dad Taught Me

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The first time I made crushed tomatoes I remember my Father and I going to a “you pick” tomato farm in California when we lived there. We purchased a ton of tomatoes for some ridiculously cheap price. The plan was to make homemade tomato sauce, tomato paste and all wonderful things tomato.

We took a huge box of fresh and overly ripe tomatoes into the backyard on this very beautiful sunny day and with a big pot to the right of us and our box of tomatoes to the left, we began our project.

Hi, my name is Kira Volpi and here’s how we made our tomatoes in EIGHT easy steps!

Tools You’ll Need:

1. At least 20 lbs of overly ripe tomatoes
2. Salt
3. A pairing knife of an easy to handle knife for peeling
4. A very large pot
5. Food processor or blender

8 Easy Steps to Crushed Tomatoes:

1. Step One:
   The first step to making a pot of really great crushed tomatoes is to choose some very fresh, very ripe tomatoes. Overly ripe is the key. Not only are they perfect for making any of our tomato sauces but they are usually much lower in price because they are not pristine for retail. The tomatoes will be softer and this will make peeling the tomatoes so much easier.


2. Step Two:
   Depending on how ripe the tomatoes are you may not even need to par boil the tomatoes. My Father and I didn’t. We simply sat around the pot and used our pairing knifes we peeled the overly ripe tomatoes and squeezed out the seeds. Then cut out the stem side and then plopped them into the pot. You can follow my instructions for peeling tomatoes here.


3. Step Three:
   If you do need to par boil the tomatoes then cut an X into the base, the opposite of the stem side, of the tomato. Fill a pot half way full with water and bring to a boil. The water should be high enough to cover the tomatoes once you add them to the pot. Once the water is boiling place the tomatoes, stem side down, into the water and boil for one to two minutes only.


4. Step Four:
   
   Remove the tomatoes from the water and place in a bowl covered with plastic wrap or a lid and allow to cool. The skin should peel right off and if it needs a little help the paring knife will come in handy.


5. Step Five:
   
   Now the fun part! Grab the tomato firmly and squeeze out most of the seeds and discard. Then cut out stem out of the tomato. Place the rest of the tomato into the large pot. Do this with two thirds of the tomatoes.


6. Step Six:
   Put the remaining, skinned and stemmed tomatoes into a food processor to blend into a chunky consistency. Don’t use canned tomato juice! That kinda defeats the purpose of making crushed tomatoes fresh…


7. Step Seven:
   Pour the blended tomatoes in with the whole tomatoes in the pot, add the salt and boil. Natural juices will expel from the whole tomatoes and the meat will become tender. Continue to boil until reduced to about half.


8. Step Eight:
   Allow to cool and pour into ball jars or, I used plastic containers to freeze in the freezer.

Or you can take your big pot of freshly made tomatoes and make amazing tomato sauce recipes like a marinara sauce or a pomodoro sauce. It is the beginning of all wonderful things tomato.

Vivere, Amare, Ridere e Mangiare Bene
Live, Love, Laugh and Eat Well!
Kira Volpi

Do you have a pasta recipe to share? Just like this crushed tomatoes recipe I will post it right here on this site for a whole page dedicated to your Italian pasta recipe.

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TOMATO SAUCE RECIPES

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