How can one preserve tomato paste in a jar at room temperature? That’s the question I’ll be answering with this post.
Winter is here and price of fresh tomatoes is steadily increasing and will soon skyrocket. In NZ, fresh tomatoes cost as low as 90c/kg in summer but as soon as autumn arrives, the price begins to rise.
One reason I can think of is because tomatoes don’t survive the winter months. This is speaking as someone who has watched her homegrown beefsteak tomatoes wither and die as the days grew colder.
And don’t bother thinking it’ll regrow in spring because, they won’t!! Unless, they somehow manage to survive the frost!! #survivor. I reckon you’ll need to grow them in a green house for that to happen (my opinion anyway).
As a result of all the mentioned, tomato supply reduces during the winter season and if you paid attention in your economics class, you know how that will affect price. As at the time of publishing this post, the price of fresh loose red tomatoes is starting at NZ$10.99/kg, depending on which supermarket you check.
Sure you’re thinking “Na to kuku buy the tin/can tomatoes paste abeg”.
Well, yes you can but anyone will tell you that most canned tomatoes, especially the ones here in NZ, dey slap well well, den come dark and e dey teh mek the iyummo comot. Soteh, if you no come dey careful, e go burn.
In essence, the sensory properties of the many tin tomato paste is not always the best option for Nigerian stew. Yet, the less acidic tin tomatoes, like Golden Sun for us in NZ, which is surprisingly also affordable, are hard to find. The supermarkets are always out of stock. Same applies to tomato purée.
To curb this problem, the best option is to make the paste or purée yourself. “When should you make it?”, you may ask. I suggest making this paste either in late summer or in autumn when the prices of tomatoes is still cheap. But, how can you make it such that it stays at room temperature without rotting?, I asked
I knew the Italians do it very often because pizza and pasta are stereotypically their second identity and both require tomato paste or purée. However, I thought it was going to be a difficult process moreover, many of the recipes I found online were for storing in fridge.
It’d be nice to store in the fridge however, I don’t have the luxury of a large refrigerator or even one to dedicate to such mission so, it had to be room temperature.
Luckily, I found this page that broke the process into easy steps with photos. I decided to not only give it a try but document my results. Without further ado, find below how you can preserve tomatoe paste in a jar at room temperature.
Prep Time
45 min
Cook Time
45 min
Total Time
90 min
Yield
1,250 mL
Ingredient
-
-
-
- Whole ripe tomatoes (Roma tomatoes is usually recommended)
- 5 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
- 3 500 mL glass canning jars
-
-
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil.
2. While that is happening, cut a small x in the bottom of each tomato using a sharp knife.
3. Prepare a large bowl of ice water and keep close by.
4. Add tomatoes to the boiling water and let it sit for about a minute. Then using a slotted spoon, transfer them directly into the ice water so they can cool quickly. Blanching at its finest.
5. As soon as they cooled enough to handle, use a sharp knife (paring knife is recommended) to remove the tomato skin.
Beside slowing or stopping enzyme action which can cause loss of colour, flavour, and texture; blanching also aids in peeling by loosening the skins so it can slip right off easily.
6. Cut the tomatoes in half to gain access the seeds. Then, remove the seeds from the tomatoes. If you’re not bothered about the seeds, then skip this step to the next one.
7. Puree the tomatoes using a blender or food processor till smooth.
8. Pour the tomatoe puree into a large pot and boil off the water to create a thick paste. Cook with the pot open for quicker evaporation.
9. While this is happening, bring water back to boil, put the jars (with lids and rings, if any), preferably in a canning rack, and boil the empty jars (lids et al) for 10 minutes to sterilize them. (Pro-tip: you can sterilize the jars and the lids separately, and for 10 mins each, if you don’t have much room in your pot).
10. Remove the jars and lids from the water. Place on a canning rack, if you didn’t already.
11. Set water to boil in a large pot, or canning kettle. I recommend using clean water instead of re-using the water that was used to sterilize the jars.
12. While the water is boiling, put 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice in each jar. Stuff the jars evenly with the tomatoes paste leaving 1/2 inch of headspace at the top of the jars.
13. Wipe the edges of the jar clean, place the lids (and rims, if any) on the jars to cover the jars. Check that the jars are properly sealed.
14. Lower the jars into the boiling water in the large pot or water bath or canning kettle. Ensure the jars are completely submerged and covered by at least 2.5 cm of water.
15. Cook for 45 minutes, with the water boiling through out. Add more hot water as required to maintain the water level.
16. After the time is over, remove the cans from the boiling water and set them on a counter to dry and cool down. Do not disturb for 12 to 24 hours.
17. Check that the jars are properly sealed and store the canned paste in a cool, dark place until ready to use.
