Paste Tomato recipes

A rich, concentrated tomato paste made by roasting halved paste tomatoes until their water evaporates and their sugars caramelize, then puréeing and slow-cooking the result down to a thick, brick-red paste of extraordinary flavor. The depth in homemade tomato paste is incomparable to any store-bought version — it carries the sweetness of peak-season fruit alongside a roasted, slightly smoky complexity. A batch made during Roma season freezes beautifully in small portions that will upgrade every sauce, stew, and braise for months.

Roma tomatoes slow-cooked in a generous pool of olive oil with garlic, herbs, and a pinch of sugar until they become impossibly tender, sweet, and concentrated. The technique — French in origin but perfectly suited to American summer tomatoes — transforms even ordinary Romas into something luxurious. The oil itself becomes an extraordinary condiment, soaking up all the tomato and herb flavour.