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When tomatoes are cooked down, and the liquid is allowed to evaporate, what you are left with is the condensed flavour of the tomatoes. Yes, this is obvious, but I mention it to clear up the misconception that tomato paste is, by nature, bitter. I have read too many recipes that say something to the affect of, “Sugar (or something else must be done) must be added to cut the bitterness (or some call it acidity) of the tomato paste”. It is usually assumed that tomato paste is bitter. It is true that tomato paste is often, far too often, bitter. This, however, is not inevitable. This is the result of using sub par tomatoes in order to make the paste. Do you really think that food companies care if their product is delicious? Certainly not as long as people keep on buying it. Now, there are some brands of tomato paste and other tomato products that are very nice, and I am not saying that there is any reason not to use those. It is defiantly easier to just buy a can of tomato paste than to make it yourself, and to make it yourself you still have to shop around for a great tasting tomato with which to make the paste.

So why make tomato paste at all? Well, one obvious reason would be if someone has a tomato garden, tomato paste is a great way to use up a lot of fresh and delicious vine ripened tomatoes. I would choose that any day over canned tomato paste. Unfortunately for me, I cannot have a tomato garden and good fresh tomatoes in my area are pretty much non existent. I must make my tomato paste from canned tomatoes. What is the point in that? Well, it is merely a matter of personal preference for me. I, as a rule do not buy any form of canned pureed tomato products. I use a lot of canned tomatoes because I need tomatoes for my cooking and as I have stated, good fresh ones are all but non existent here, but when I buy canned tomatoes they are always whole. The reason is because when companies create pureed tomato products, they typically use the worst tomatoes from the harvest. The broken ones, the partially rotten ones, the not quite ripe enough ones, and they do not inspect them very carefully for insects. You are almost guaranteed to have a number of maggots all pureed within your tomato sauce or paste from a can. True, these thing aren’t likely to cause you any harm, but the thought just doesn’t sit well with me. Whole canned tomatoes are inspected more closely for quality and you are far far less likely to come across insects, though neither of these thing are unheard of in canned whole tomatoes. I typically give my whole canned tomatoes a quick once over, and if I notice any blemishes I just pull them off and use the rest of the tomato. I have yet to encounter an insect.

So, if the convenience of canned tomato paste is attractive enough to you that you don’t mind the problems that come along with it then this recipe is not for you. If you have a tomato garden or simply prefer a little more quality control, then read on!