I've mentioned a couple of times that I use
canned tomato paste in cooking. I bring this up again because tomato paste
typically goes on sale in late summer and early fall as retailers clear out
last season's canned goods to make room for this season's. I have found tomato
paste to be so valuable for our meals. It's one of those foods that you may see
on a shelf in the grocery store and wonder what it's used for or who buys it.
My mom always made spaghetti sauce with canned
tomato paste, a spaghetti seasoning packet, ground beef, chopped onion, and
water. A 6-oz can of tomato paste made enough pasta sauce for 3 to 5 people.
When I began cooking on my own, I followed my mom's example and bought the
seasoning mix and canned tomato paste. After a few years of making sauce this
way, I figured out that I really didn't need the seasoning mix but could add
garlic, salt, and a combination of oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, and/or
savory, saving some money while making a pasta sauce that was more flavorful
than the seasoning packet could ever be. This was my introduction to tomato
paste. Now it's a staple in my pantry.
Here are some of the ways that I use tomato paste.
1) Pasta sauce -- as mentioned above, pasta sauce can be made with a seasoning packet and tomato paste or with tomato paste, meat, onions, herbs, red pepper, garlic, salt, and any veggies that I want to incorporate.
2) Pizza sauce -- here's my standard pizza sauce using tomato paste, garlic, salt, oregano, sugar, and red pepper flakes. Scoop 1/4 to 1/3 cup of tomato paste into a microwaveable 8-oz measuring cup. Add 1 clove of garlic minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder), 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon finely crushed oregano, a pinch of red pepper flakes, a pinch of sugar, then mix it all in. Next, slowly incorporate enough water to bring the sauce up to the 1-cup mark. Microwave for 1 minute. There's your super quick pizza sauce, ready to top 1 large pizza in under 5 minutes. In a pinch, I use this for pasta sauce, although I think adding onion, meat, and additional herbs is nicer for a pasta sauce.
3) Tomato soup and the tomato base for other soups or stews, such as minestrone, chili, or beef stew -- how I make tomato soup from tomato paste can be found in the comments of this post. Scroll down to my response to Christa. It's delicious, easy to make, and cheap, cheap, cheap.
4) Ketchup -- my homemade ketchup is simply tomato paste, vinegar, onions (or onion powder), sugar, salt, lemon juice, and water. Some recipes, (like this one on Top Secret Recipes), also call for corn syrup and garlic powder, and skip the lemon juice. Lemon is just my preference in tomato-based dishes.
5) Tomato juice -- we love tomato juice and tomato-vegetable juice in our home. The homemade variety can be as simple as tomato paste, water, salt, plus, if desired, a pinch of onion powder and a dash of hot sauce. (Tomato paste to water ratio -- 1:4) Stir it all together and serve over ice.
6) Tomato paste salsa -- such as this recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation which calls for both fresh tomatoes and tomato paste. Tomato paste can thicken any salsa which is too thin, adding rich tomato flavor in the process.
7) Tomato sauce -- if your recipe calls for canned tomato sauce and what you have is tomato paste, you can combine 1 cup of water with 3/4 cup of tomato paste. Stir in a pinch of sugar, some salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Voila, tomato sauce.
Tomato paste is almost always less expensive than these prepared foods that I make myself. It's a real budget-extender for us.
