Larder: Passata

You know what Lloyd? Why don’t you take your sauces and go hang? We at Gobbler could bodge together an Arrabiata with twice the taste of Grossman’s old slop before Uncle Ben had time to lace up his winkle-pickers. All we need is a decent spot of passata. Yeah, so it’s really just tomatoes, sieved and stuff, but they sure are versatile. You can add them to onions, garlic (and whatever else you fancy) for a simple pasta sauce, or chuck them in a glass with ice, vodka and Worcester sauce for a delicious Bloody Mary. Just buy a half-tasty one to begin with.

Morrisons Bettabuy passata
500g
32p
Before you’ve even considered the price, this is a cracking passata. It has a wonderfully rich red colour, tangy taste and thick consistency. Wham.

Aldi Cucina passata
500g
39p
A pleasingly viscous passata; fresh tomato flavour and not a trace of the saltiness found in others.

Tesco sieved tomato passata
500g
41p
With deep tomato flavour and a mysteriously tangy edge, Tesco’s passata has all the dark red gloopiness you’re likely to need, with a little extra.

Comments

Uncle Chris - 29th September 2009, 9:40pm

Yes Gross Lloydman has a lot to answer for. Southern Italy is stuffed full of tomatoes and you do not need to pay for the expensive labels. Why not make your own by mixing a small tin of puree (about 25p) with some toms bought at a local greengrocers? Stick one on a fork and rotate above a gas flame to char the skin, repeat a few times. Peel away the skins. Squeeze the seed/soft pulp bits into a sieve above a bowl, catching all juice. Put the flesh into the bowl and press the seeds with a spoon. The object is to use all but the seeds, which impart an unpleasant bitterness to the sauce and is why passata’s are described as “sieved”. Yours will be a lovely combination of concentrated puree with the freshness of real toms and will make a great pizza topping or pasta sauce.

You must be logged in to post comments. If you do not have an account, register now!