Fresh Passata
This is the base of all tomato sauces! It is slightly more laborious but totally worth it if you are lucky enough to be able to find some beautiful fresh tomatoes. I would advise you to attempt this only with the freshest and possibly organically grown summer tomatoes. There is simply no match for a fruit that has been slowly ripening in the sun without the aid of any chemical fertilisers.
In Italy we have several varieties of tomatoes depending on the use they are intended for. Try and find those for “salsa”…
When I go home in summer, Bruna (our faithful housekeeper who has been looking after my family and house for the last 28 years!) knows I love to bring back to England the sauce made with our very own tomatoes...so here is how she proceeds...
Ingredients
Very ripe tomatoes
Fresh basil
Onions
Method
Roughly cut the tomatoes into chunks and put them into a big pot with one or two sliced onions. It obviously depends on the quantity of tomatoes. We normally work with big batches, like several kilos…
Bring to a quick boil and let them cook until all water has evaporated.
Once off the the heat, put the tomatoes through a mouli (or a sieve if you don’t have a mouli).
You should have now a nice loose purée, not too thick but not too watery.
At this stage, if you wish, you can put the passata into glass jars with a couple of leaves of fresh basil and go through the process of sterilisation... Once sterilised, the passata will last you well through the winter and until the following summer... Personally, I tend to use it all in a few months!
If instead you prefer to use it straight away, proceed like for the previous recipe, Salsa Di Pomodoro.