Roasted Tomato puree

Once I discovered this method of making tomato puree (from N’s blog, in this awesome soup recipe) and its brilliant woody taste, I have not resorted to any other puree recipe. I use this puree in soups, for my pasta sauce, for my lasagne. In short, for everything and anything that needs tomatoes or tomato puree.

This puree keeps well in the fridge for up to a week, and longer in the freezer. I buy a kg of tomatoes at once, roast them on the stove, and store the puree in the fridge for the week’s usage , especially if I know what we would be eating that week, or if I am expecting any guests.

The beauty of this puree is that you don’t need to sieve it to remove the solids of tomato, or boil it after blending to thicken it. Because of the roasting method, the tomato is cooked/roasted at the same time, and hence does not need to be boiled. All the water content in it goes out of the tomato from the blisters it forms while being roasted.

Try this, and I promise you will never go back to regular puree.

Ingredients (6 medium tomatoes make 2 Cups of puree)

Tomatoes –6 medium tomatoes, washed

Instructions

Pierce a fork into the tomatoes and hold them on the open flame of the stove. Tilt and twist the fork to ensure that all sides of the tomato is getting roasted. After a while, you will hear pop sounds, and the skin of the tomato like it is having blisters. This means, the tomato is cooked.

Repeat this for all the tomatoes. Let them cool, and peel off the skin of these tomatoes.
Blend them in a mixer-grinder to make a tomato puree.