Information – Page 2 – Pasta Planet

Passata, made from Italian tomatoes is a great base for your tomato sauce. In fact, if you ask us, it's the perfect choice! "But what exactly is passata?" I hear you thinking. Is passata the same as tomato paste, diced tomatoes or dried tomatoes? In this blog, we'll tell you exactly what passata is and what you can do with it. Passata Passata is used in Italy for a wide variety of dishes. You can use it to make a delicious pasta sauce or you can use it for your homemade pizza. Besides pasta and pizza, you can also use it for meat or fish dishes. Passata is simple, healthy, delicious and made from ripe tomatoes. In short, an all-rounder that is so popular for a reason! All about passata In this blog, we will cover the following points: What is passata?How to use passata?Passata recipesPassata or diced tomatoes?Is passata the same as tomato paste?The nutritional value of passataWhat is the best passata?Which passata should you buy?Passata for on your pizzaOrganic passataMake your own passataPassata storage What is passata? But what exactly is passata? Passata is made from Italian tomatoes. Created out of pure necessity because ripe tomatoes could not be kept for long. All the ripe tomatoes that remain are used to make tomato passata. The tomatoes are boiled and squeezed through a sieve. This removes the seeds and pulp, leaving only the "meat" of the tomato. Once the tomato passata is ready, it is packaged in glass bottles. The bottles are vacuum-drawn so the tomato passata has a long shelf life. This allows you to enjoy ripe tomatoes all year round, incorporated into your favorite tomato sauce! Where can you buy tomato passata? Tomato passata is available in most supermarkets. You don't have to look far to purchase tomato passata. You can also easily order tomato passata on Amazon. And you will be surprised what good tomato passata is available. Often tomato passata is also available from real Italian brands such as Cirio, Mutti or Pomi. Check out all tomato passata on amazon: View passata on Amazon How to use passata Using passata is not that complicated. Once you have purchased a good bottle of passata (preferably an organic one) you can actually do anything with it. Since we love pasta we will focus on that for now. Passata can be used, for example, as a base for tomato sauce. Instead of ripe tomatoes, use passata. This has several advantages: it is faster because you don't have to wash, cut and cook the tomatoes until tender, it is often cheaper and the taste is more consistent. So our advice is to use passata instead of fresh tomatoes. This will make your favorite pasta sauce just as tasty ánd quick to prepare! Passata recipes There are plenty of passata recipes! Actually, you can say that for every pasta dish where tomatoes are used, you can also use passata. You probably know them. Dishes like spaghetti Bolognese, pasta all'arrabbiata, pasta tomato/basil and countless other pasta dishes with tomato sauce as a base. The passata is the basis of your pasta sauce and for the rest you can make whatever you like best. Let your imagination run wild and create something delicious! Passata or diced tomatoes? As you know, passata is strained tomatoes without pulp and skin. Diced tomatoes are tomatoes that have been cut into pieces. But which one is best to use for a delicious tomato sauce? The answer is simple, as you can use both. It just depends on where your preference lies. If you want a smooth tomato sauce you can choose passata. If you want a rougher texture in your sauce, you can choose diced tomatoes. Which of the two you choose doesn't really matter. What we do want to advise you is that whatever you buy, buy quality! Both passata and diced tomatoes form the basis of your sauce. Choose quality or you will never get the best out of your dish. Is passata the same as tomato puree? The answer is short but clear: no! Passata are cooked tomatoes that have been strained, skinless. Tomato puree is a concentrated processing of the tomato. You can often find tomato puree in the small cans or small tubes. The price is often cheap and the word "puree" is often clearly marked on the package. Passata you use as the base for your pasta sauce, the puree to enhance the flavor of the sauce. In fact, you only need a small amount of tomato puree to add a lot of flavor. Passata is therefore not the same as tomato puree. Nutritional values of passata The nutritional value of passata will not scare you. Passata is namely a natural product and made from pure tomatoes.A good basis for your pasta sauce. The nutritional values below are per 100 grams and are meant as an indication. Passata has the following nutritional value: Energy: 51 KcalWater: 88.2 gramsProtein: 1.4 gramsFat: 1.9 gramsCarbohydrates: 6.9 gramsDietary fiber: 0.6 grams In addition to the above nutritional value, passata has many vitamins and minerals in it, making it a healthy source of nutrients. Best passata Choose the best passata if you want to make the tastiest tomato sauce. There is a golden rule: "garbage in, garbage out." In other words, if you use worse passata, you will never get the best out of your sauce or dish. But what is the best passata? While buying, pay attention to the following points to find out what the best passata is: Where do the tomatoes in the passata come from? Preferably from Italy, of course. Is it an organic passata? If so, great! What is the price? The highest price is not always the highest quality, but it often gives a good indication. What is the packaging made of? Is it glass, cardboard, plastic or tin. Our preference is for a sturdy glass bottle. If you take these points into account during your search for tomato passata, you will often come home with the best passata. Which will only make your pasta dish tastier! Buy passata You can buy passata in the supermarket. Here you will often find a wide range of different products. You will find passata, canned tomatoes, tomato puree and diced tomatoes. Of course, you can also find different tomato sauces that are ready to use. You can also easily order tomato passata on Amazon. And you will be surprised what good tomato passata is available. Passata for pizza Without a doubt, you can also use passata for your pizza! It's a simple product that is the ideal base sauce for your pizza. To make the sauce even more delicious than it already is, you can flavor the passata by adding some fresh herbs. For example, you can add finely chopped garlic, oregano and, of course, some salt and pepper. This is how you make the passata flavorful and ready to put on the pizza. Organic passata Organic food is hot! And that, of course, is not for nothing. Organic food is generally a lot healthier for you. So is the organic passata that you want to use for your pasta sauce. For example, organic means that no artificial fertilizer is used and that no chemical pesticides may be used. In addition to these two points, there are many others that passata must meet to be considered organic. It is important that you see a clear organic label on the packaging. If you see this label, you can assume that the passata is organic. More information about organic food can be found all over the Internet. Make your own passata Making your own passata is a lot of fun to do and the result will undoubtedly be delicious. Unfortunately, there is one drawback: making your own passata is quite time consuming. If time is no object, we definitely recommend that you try making your own passata. We will help you on your way and tell you the best way to do this. What do you need to make your own passata: about 2 kilos of ripe tomatoes. This is good for about 2 bottles of passata of 800 grams. How to make your own passata: Wash the tomatoes under the tap so they are thoroughly clean.If necessary, cut off the bruised pieces of the tomatoes, since you won't use them anymore, and cut the rest of the tomato into coarse pieces.Put the sliced tomatoes in a large pan and add a little water. About 50 ml is enough.Put the pan on high heat.Put a lid on the pan and bring the tomatoes to a boil.Regularly stir the tomatoes well.Once the tomatoes are boiling put them on low heat.Wait for the tomatoes to burst and then remove the lid from the pan. Turn up the heat slightly.The purpose of cooking is to extract as much moisture from the tomatoes as possible.This process can easily take an hour, and make sure the tomatoes don't burn by adding a little moisture every now and then. Now that the tomatoes are ready you can start making tomato passata from them. You do this by using a tomato strainer. Put the cooked tomatoes in the stirrer sieve and continue turning until you are left with just the pulp, and a bowl full of strained tomato passata. Discard the pulp and keep repeating this process until all the cooked tomatoes are used up. If all goes well, you will be left with a nice homemade passata. If you still find the passata too thin or watery, put it back on the stove and cook it further so that some more liquid dissipates. Storing the passata Now that you have made your own delicious passata, you can choose to use it in a delicious pasta sauce right away. But you can also store the tomato passata. This is best done in clean bottles of about 800ml. Make sure the bottles are clean by running them in the dishwasher. This is important to ensure that your tomato passata does not rot during storage. Fill the bottles with the homemade passata about 80% full, leaving some space. Then tightly close the lid and turn the bottles upside down. Let them stand for about 5 min and put them back down normally so that they can cool down peacefully. When the bottles have cooled completely, it is best to store them in a dark and cool place. You can keep the tomato passata this way for several months. Something you probably won't manage because they will surely be empty before then! To overview