Easy Homemade Tomato Puree

For those who don't have the time and courage to make tomato puree or juice by the traditional method (using a tomato press to squeeze the juice / paste with as little waste as possible) - I recommend this quick and very simple method. It was a great relief for me some years ago. I was in the countryside and I had to quickly preserve many kilograms of tomatoes in very little time. So, I put the food processor and the blender to work and this miracle puree came out. Although its texture is very pleasant, it still has small seeds and traces of tomato peel, but I assure you that few will notice. It's a very fast and good method to save some tomatoes that don't have a perfect taste, but you don't really want to throw away either, especially since in the winter we don't even find them!

It can be used for anything, like normal tomato bouillon. If you boil longer, it will have a denser texture. I make it more runny, and it's very good.

Be sure to follow all the steps. Each has its meaning and logic - chopping, boiling, blending, then preserving - in order to have a product as good and beautiful as possible.

Ingredients
Tomatoes
5 kg
Step by step
Step 1

Wash the tomatoes well.

Easy Homemade Tomato Puree - Step 1
Step 2

Then core and cut into halves. Cut each half into 2-3 pieces - depending on how big the tomatoes are. If they are small, leave them halves.

Easy Homemade Tomato Puree - Step 2
Step 3

Place the tomatoes in the food processor. Fill, but not to the top :)

Easy Homemade Tomato Puree - Step 3
Step 4

Pulse until the tomatoes are crushed as finely as you can. At this stage, it's not even possible to get a very fine paste, but at least we crush them.

Easy Homemade Tomato Puree - Step 4
Step 5

Pour the mashed tomatoes into a large saucepan and put the next batch in the food processor.

I crushed 5 kg of tomatoes in 3 batches. So, it's about how many tomatoes you have, but things are going fast anyway.

Easy Homemade Tomato Puree - Step 5
Step 6

Then bring the pot to the boil, stir periodically. When it comes to the boil, make a low heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

It's important that the tomatoes are properly boiled and softened, to be able to blend them afterwards, as finely as possible.

Easy Homemade Tomato Puree - Step 6
Step 7

Meanwhile, we have work to do. We wash and sterilize the jars. I prefer the oven. I place them on an oven tray and keep for 30 minutes at 120-150 degrees C.

Easy Homemade Tomato Puree - Step 7
Step 8

Now that tomatoes have been cooking for 30 minutes, we can remove the pot from the heat. We'll start using yet another magic tool in the kitchen - the hand blender.

Pulse and insist as much as you can for a very fine and beautiful tomato juice.

Easy Homemade Tomato Puree - Step 8
Step 9

This is what mine looked like in the end.

Easy Homemade Tomato Puree - Step 9
Step 10

Return the pot over heat, but only to simmer the broth for 4-5 minutes.

Easy Homemade Tomato Puree - Step 10
Step 11

After that, ladle the hot juice into sterilized jars. Fill the jars completely, leaving no space at all at the top.

Easy Homemade Tomato Puree - Step 11
Step 12

Tighten the lids properly on the jars and place them upside down on a towel.

Easy Homemade Tomato Puree - Step 12
Step 13

Let sit like this until they cool completely, then store in the pantry.

Easy Homemade Tomato Puree - Step 13
Step 14

I already used this tomato sauce the next day for some sarmale (Romanian cabbage rolls). It was perfect and simple :)

Enjoy!

Easy Homemade Tomato Puree - Step 14
Quantity: 4 l (4-5 liters)
Prep time:
60 min
Difficulty: easy
Ready in: 20 min