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Whats the relative advantages of each? I'd like to be able to have frozen tomato sauce for cooking/pizza toppings etc
Jackie

we blend ours, still using last year's pizza topping  ;D

Do you strain it Manics to get the seeds out?

no, just use it as it is, mind you, we use beefsteak or plum so not as many seeds  :)

Thanks!  I'll giive it a go then with the plums/beefsteaks.  I don't have a passata maker and pushed it all through a fine seive last year which was a bit of a faff.

ours has peppers, garlic, onions, basil and a bit of chilli in so I don't think it would go through a seive, means the littlies are eating things they don't like  ;D

Quote from: manicscousers on June 28, 2009, 16:00:56
means the littlies are eating things they don't like  ;D

Oooooh!  You are evil!  ;)

 ;D

I roast my toms slowly and then press them through a seive and then freeze or jar.  No pips or skins but a faff none-the-less.  This year it's a foodmill for me..

I strain the seeds out before cooking, then blend and freeze.A handy way of making "bricks" is to cut down milk cartons & use them to hold freezer bags filled with sauce,soup ,stock e.t.c.Because of their unifom shape they stack nicely and are nice and stable when thawing :)

So, does a Passata whatsit do anything the blender doesn't?

I have a moulin/passata maker, it takes the skin and the pips out as it pushes the pulp through the sieve plate. Makes it dead easy to make puree's and passata - no faff. The blender doesn't remove the pips or skins,  these get blended in with the tomato pulp - so can make the sauce slightly bitter unless you skin and depip first.

we skin all our toms first  :)

How does the Passata (which I have never heard of before!!) differ from a juicer? I have a juicer which removed pips and skin from fruit but I must admit, I  have never used it for tomatoes.

Quote from: manicscousers on June 30, 2009, 09:11:35
we skin all our toms first  :)

Do you drop them in hot water....wondering if I need a passata thingie or not :)

Lakeland have a half priced "Tomato Master" on at the mo..

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/tomato-master/F/keyword/food+mill/product/12165

How to skin tomatoes
http://www.eatingbritain.com/how-to-skin-tomatoes.html

A passata maker separates the skin and the seeds from the pulp so there's no need to de-skin or de-seed before passing them through the machine. 

To get a more intense flavour, before processing the tomatoes,  'sun dry' (i.e. cook ata low temperature) halved tomatoes in the oven on baking tray with basil and and a sliver of garlic on each half.

we put the tomatoes, onions, garlic and chilli in a tray and roast with olive oil in the oven for half an hour, the skins just pick off  ;D

slow roast in the oven on a low temperature with some onions/garlic and any oversized peeled courgettes sprinked with a little salt and pepper, blend in food processor then sieve.

It does not take too long when they are still warm. Freeze.

Taste the result first though and use your imagination..... a lttle cream for a soup.// Add to cooked mince or for a bolignaise type pasta sauce//. Add shell fish for a Spanish style meal or starter and serve with fresh bread and butter.

Quote from: BarriedaleNick on June 30, 2009, 11:46:22
Lakeland have a half priced "Tomato Master" on at the mo..

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/tomato-master/F/keyword/food+mill/product/12165

thanks Barriedalenick  ;D

Annd thanks to all for recipe ideas.  ;D