Following on the heels of me opening the last 14oz can of crushed tomatoes at one house, I remarked to Wahine that we needed to buy more. In fact, I observed to her we were almost out of canned sauce, paste and whole tomatoes, too. Her reaction floored me: “Why don’t you just use the paste in the squeeze tubes?” This was offered not as some stopgap until we’d make it to a store, but rather as a general approach to stocking prepared tomato products. A strange debate ensued, with her claiming using the tubed paste would eliminate a lot of waste, and that we never used more than 2 Tablespoons at a time. For my contribution to a thoughtful discussion, I helpfully asked what planet she was from; did she really think a squeeze tube (or 8) of paste was going to do all things tomato we needed/wanted to do?
This prompted me to : (a) shut up; and instead (b) ask here: What kinds of prepared/preserved tomato products do you typically keep on hand? Do you buy only certain ones and “convert” them to others (e.g., crush from whole, dilute/amend/cook down sauce, etc.)? Personally, I like the paste tubes, but I consider the several canned tomato variants to be staples, that I want to have on hand. I won’t keep them for longer than a year, but I don’t want to make a shopping run every time a 2oz tube gives up its last measure of devotion.
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Harters
( Who put the dip in the dip da dip da dip. DEMAND ANSWERS)
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We always have tins of chopped tomato (for general use) and passata (generally for Italian-esque sauces). Then there’s the tube or jar of tomato puree - I freeze this in ice cube trays in about tablespoon quantity.
I keep Petite Diced Tomatoes, Tomato Puree, tomato paste (small can), tomato sauce and Spaghetti/Pasta Sauce in stock.
If I open a can of tomato paste, the balance goes into a freezer bag and stored in the freezer door for the next time I need it.
I don’t really convert tomato products into other items – just open the can I need.
I keep a few extra cans/jars of spaghetti/pasta sauce on hand in case of power outages. I can boil pasta on my camp stove, drain it and throw a jar/can of pasta sauce on top to make a hot dinner. (I don’t like to open the fridge or freezer during a power outage)
Sunshine likes the already prepared pasta sauces (Ragu) when I make spaghetti & meatballs, so that is what I serve.
I knew one woman that made her own sauce from scratch (and home canned a good bit of it), but I’m not that ambitious.
I buy Bianco DiNapoli Organic Whole Peeled Tomatoes by the six pack. And I have a tube of paste that gets used occasionally. I also save “tomato water” when I cut into a very juicy one, and once I have enough, I make a drink with it called a Byproduct, which is similar to a Bloody Mary.
Centos petite diced here, too. They have much more flavor than Trader Joe’s, but they cost twice as much. I go through three or so cans a month so that’s not an issue.
For tomato paste, I get cans. When I open the can, I pop tablespoon portions onto a piece of wax paper over a small baking sheet, and freeze them. When solid, I wrap each one in Press-n-Seal and store them in a ziploc.
Mutti passata in jars and Mutti paste in the tubes. The quality is reliable and they’re always available. I have some home canned, but the juniors like Mutti better. I used to get tinned whole tomatoes, but passata gets used much more here, and it sure saves time when you don’t have to put the tomatoes through a press.
I prefer to make tomato sauce with Ital brand whole tomatoes D.O.P. … Safeway now charges $6.50 per can, 28 oz? I now use a Moulinex food mill … my mother always made sauce just by breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. For 3-4 big cans, I add one small can of tomato paste and some water, about 2 cups. I like fresh basil so much that I only make sauce when I also have basil on hand.
Tomato paste tubes (Mutti and Cento) AND the mini cans of paste (usually Tuttorosso). If I don’t use all of the mini can, it gets frozen in a mini container for later use.
Small and large cans of Muir Glen tomato sauce.
Large cans of Muir Glen crushed tomatoes.
Muir Glen canned diced tomatoes, some fire-roasted, some not.
Canned whole DiNapoli tomatoes, boxed Pomi chopped tomatoes, Mutti passata, Mutti tomato paste (tube) and RoTel are all in my cupboard as standards. Also Rao’s marinara.
i live alone and have a smallish freezer, so i don’t make sauce from scratch. if i need some, i’ll open a jar, use what ii need, then freeze the rest in 1 cup jars.
always have 2-3 cans whole plum tomatoes in juice for soup, as for tomato paste, i have a couple of ans for when i make alison roman’s caramelized shallot pesto (just used the last jar — need to make some soon:). but, i also have a tube in the fridge for when i just need a tablespoon or 2.
here’s my version (made a few tweaks:) i call it pesto because i make it separately and freeze in small jars.
caramelized shallot pesto
1/4 cup olive oil
6 large shallots, very thinly sliced (about 12 ounces)
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more to taste
1 2-ounce can anchovy fillets, drained
1 6-ounce can of tomato paste
Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium. Add shallots and garlic, season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots have become totally softened and caramelized with golden-brown fried edges, 15 to 20 minutes.
Add red-pepper flakes and anchovies. (No need to chop the anchovies; they will dissolve on their own.) Stir to melt the anchovies into the shallots, about 2 minutes.
Add tomato paste and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly to prevent any scorching, until the tomato paste has started to cook in the oil a bit, caramelizing at the edges and going from bright red to a deeper brick red color, about 2 minutes.
We buy more or less European style and only for 1-3 days at a time. The only tomato-based product we buy in a bit larger quantities is tomato paste (in tubes, really don’t like the small cans) as it is strangely expensive here and if you get a good price you better take advantage
I always have a few small (400 grams) cans of Mutti tomatoes at home. Never really use tomato paste.
General wisdom suggests one should buy tinned whole tomatoes (as otherwise you’ll likely get second grade tomatoes not good enough to sell whole) which you then crush with a spoon or knife in the tin. That said, Mutti already crushed tomatoes are very good so I’ll usually get that. They are not San Marzano tomatoes - tried those, wasn’t a fan.
When there is a summer glut of home grown tomatoes, I can them myself. Whenever I’m in Italy I buy some local tomato seeds, eg you can do that at Eataly.
