You can probably imagine what was going through my head when I found myself in the grocery store looking at the rows of tomato paste that I so desperately needed for dinner that night. “Golly gee whiz! I know I can do that!” I shrugged my shoulders and bought it anyway. The teeny cans of mystery tomatoes couldn’t be better than what I grow myself. So I vowed to never buy it again. I thought about cooking my own tomatoes down to a paste but that would just be a waste of time and propane and defeat the purpose. (The reason why I use tomato paste is to shortcut the cooking time!) And then it hit me.
At the end of this year’s harvest, I had mounds of tomatoes. Some went into the freezer, I canned a bunch, and the last of ’em went straight into the dehydrator.
Although these withered down to practically nothing, the impact they had on my pasta sauce was impressive.
I tore the dehydrated tomatoes (skins, seeds and all) into pieces so they’d fit in my coffee grinder. You can use a blender or food processor too.
And lookie here! Not a paste but a powder* that thickens as it flavors. Yum! This particular powder is Cherokee Purple tomatoes, and I followed it with Black Krim which was even better. Canned tomato paste. Ha! Never again…
*Tip: The storage time for this powder is short, so leave the dehydrated tomato slices whole and grind only when you need to use it.