How to Make Tomato Paste at Home

Tomato paste is a thick tomato concentrate made by cooking the moisture out of fresh tomatoes. Used in a wide variety of recipes, tomato paste thickens sauces, adds inviting color and provides a rich burst of tomato flavor anywhere it is needed. It takes a lot of tomatoes to make just a little paste, but a little goes a long way. Wrangling a bountiful tomato harvest this summer? Follow these simple steps to make this kitchen staple using fresh tomatoes straight from the garden.

Ingredients: 5 pounds ripe plum tomatoes / 1/4 cup olive oil / 1 tablespoon kosher salt. Five pounds of tomatoes will yield about ½ pint of paste, but this easy recipe can be scaled to accommodate any harvest. Equipment: Large, heavy pot and lipped baking half-sheet.

Remove stem and core of tomatoes and quarter or roughly chop. Five pounds of tomatoes will provide approximately 4 quarts of chopped tomato.

Pour ¼ cup of olive oil into a heavy pot and add chopped tomatoes and kosher salt. Other ingredients like pepper or garlic may be added, but sticking to the basic ingredients makes paste more versatile when used in recipes.