Zero Waste Tomato Passata

You know that point in the season when your heirloom tomatoes all decide to ripen at once? One minute you’re checking them daily like an eager parent, the next you’ve got trugs, bowls, windowsills, and possibly your pockets, full of these gorgeous, flavour-packed tomatoes.

This is exactly what you want.

Because when heirloom tomatoes are properly ripe, soft, sweet, almost splitting, that’s when they’re at their absolute best. And honestly, shop-bought passata doesn’t stand a chance next to this.

This recipe isn’t about perfection or fancy kit. It’s about using everything you’ve grown, wasting nothing, and turning trugs of heirloom tomatoes into something that tastes like summer in a jar. Skins, seeds, the lot, we’re making every bit count.

Method:

1. Prep the tomatoes: Wash them if needed. Remove all stalks and take out the cores from the bigger ones.
   
2. Cook them: Put all the tomatoes into a heavy-bottomed pan. Cook gently, stirring regularly so they don’t stick.
   
3. Mash if you like: Use a potato masher to crush the tomatoes, it speeds up cooking and releases more juice.
   
4. Sieve or mill: Pass the cooked tomatoes through a sieve or food mill. You’ll now have silky passata and a pile of skins & seeds.
   
5. Save the leftovers: Taste the pulp. If it’s tasty (homegrown usually is!), spread it on dehydrator trays at 60 °C for about a day, or on greaseproof paper in a warm oven/sunny spot. Once dry, blitz into a powder. Instant tomato umami for soups, sauces, anything really!
   
6. Reduce the passata: Return the smooth passata to the pan and simmer until reduced by almost half. Keep stirring!
   
7. Cool & store: Take off the heat and leave to cool. Freeze, can, jar or use immediately.

Simple Tomato Sauce (to show it off properly)

When you’re ready to turn that passata into something special:

• Toast the seeds: Heat a heavy-bottomed pan. Toss in 1tsp of fennel seeds and shake until they start popping. Tip out and set aside to cool.
• Cook onion & garlic: Add a glug of oil to the pan, turn to medium heat, and cook onions for 1 – 2 minutes. Add garlic and stir gently, just soften, don’t colour.
• Add passata: Pour in 300 ml of your passata and stir as it thickens and bubbles.
• Add fennel & season: Crush the cooled fennel seeds and stir in. Taste, then add sea salt until just right.
• Serve: Spoon over spaghetti and finish with grated parmesan for a lush, simple meal.

And there you have it, zero waste, full-flavour tomato passata that tastes way better than anything you’ll find in a jar. Use it straight away, freeze it, or pop it in a jar to savour later. Either way, you’ve just turned a glut of tomatoes into pure gold and yes, you can feel smug about it.