Tomato Puree

[bleachboy]

I swear I'm not stupid! However, I frequently run across the ingredient "tomato puree" in recipes.

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place, but I've never seen a can of anything labeled "tomato puree" in any local grocery store.

Does "tomato puree" mean the stuff labeled "tomato sauce"?

Does "tomato puree" mean to buy a can of whole tomatoes and puree them?

Does "tomato puree" mean to puree fresh tomatoes?

Has anybody else ever asked themselves this question, or am I all alone?

[Darcie B]

In our local Kroger, they carry cans of Tomato Puree. If you can't find it in your local stores, then I would suggest draining whole tomatoes and pureeing them.

[nacho]

It is its own product...

Hunts Tomato Puree

Made from all-natural, premium vine-ripened tomatoes, Hunt's Tomato Puree has a texture between tomato paste and crushed tomatoes. Use Hunt's Tomato Puree to flavor soups, gravies and sauces, casseroles and meatloaf. Available in 10.75oz. and 29oz. sizes

[bleachboy]

It is its own product...

Hunts Tomato Puree

You just blew my mind. I absolutely swear I have never seen this before. I am going to scour the grocery stores of Nashville today until I find some of this tomato puree.

Thanks!

[MarketStEl]

I've got a couple of large cans of Tuttorosso tomato puree in my pantry right now, along with a couple of cans of Tuttorosso crushed tomatoes with basil.

Tomato puree is a thick liquid, much thicker than tomato sauce. Unlike tomato sauce, though, it usually contains no added salt. And unlike crushed tomatoes, which are otherwise similar to tomato puree in thickness, puree contains no solid tomato pulp.

Most of the major tomato processors make puree as part of their product line. However, it does not come in smaller cans the way most other tomato products do. I have yet to see a can of tomato puree less than 22 ounces net weight. Look on the lower shelves of the canned tomato section of your local supermarket, where the big cans usually reside.

[GordonCooks]

I always thought that tomato sauce was a cooked product and the puree was a raw product.

[mochihead]

According to www.ochef.com:

Tomato paste, or tomato concentrate, consists of tomatoes that have been cooked for several hours, strained and reduced to a thick, rich concentrate.

Tomato puree consists of tomatoes that have been cooked briefly and strained, resulting in a thick liquid.

Tomato sauce is a somewhat thinner tomato puree, and may include seasonings and other flavorings so that it is ready to be used in other dishes or as a base for other sauces.

Link to article

[Anna N]

I also make a couple of things that call for tomato puree which I have never found. I use tomato passata which I find in bottles near the tomato paste. It seems to work fine but now I am curious - where does it fit into the scheme of things?

[bleachboy]

For what it's worth, just got back from the store and, yep, I'll be damned. Tomato puree. It wasn't easy to find, though -- Krogers had it way on the bottom shelf in a one-can-wide column.

The ingredients on it, by the way, are listed as "Tomato puree (water, tomato paste), salt, citric acid". So it's basically just diluted tomato paste with some salt and citric acid (to restore acidity lost in the paste-making process, maybe?) it seems.

[nacho]

I have yet to see a can of tomato puree less than 22 ounces net weight. 

←

As quoted above, Hunts has a 10.75 ounce can. That's what I usually buy at my local HEB grocer.

[jsolomon]

So, where does the tomato juice that my family makes run? We just roughly hack the tom's, toss them through the KitchenAid juicer, and hot pack them in quart jars with a wee pinch of salt.

Delish!

[MarketStEl]

For what it's worth, just got back from the store and, yep, I'll be damned.  Tomato puree.  It wasn't easy to find, though -- Krogers had it way on the bottom shelf in a one-can-wide column.

The ingredients on it, by the way, are listed as "Tomato puree (water, tomato paste), salt, citric acid".  So it's basically just diluted tomato paste with some salt and citric acid (to restore acidity lost in the paste-making process, maybe?) it seems.

←

Canned puree may indeed be that. The Tuttorosso puree I have in my pantry has an almost identical ingredients list: "Tomato concentrate (water, tomato paste), citric acid."

Note the absence of salt.

Okay, next challenge: Find a commercial tomato puree that is not reconstituted from paste.

[TongoRad]

For what it's worth, just got back from the store and, yep, I'll be damned.  Tomato puree.  It wasn't easy to find, though -- Krogers had it way on the bottom shelf in a one-can-wide column.

The ingredients on it, by the way, are listed as "Tomato puree (water, tomato paste), salt, citric acid".  So it's basically just diluted tomato paste with some salt and citric acid (to restore acidity lost in the paste-making process, maybe?) it seems.

←

Canned puree may indeed be that. The Tuttorosso puree I have in my pantry has an almost identical ingredients list: "Tomato concentrate (water, tomato paste), citric acid."

Note the absence of salt.

Okay, next challenge: Find a commercial tomato puree that is not reconstituted from paste.

←

I'm pretty sure the Parmalat product Pomi (in the cardboard container) fits the bill.

I really don't like the reconstituted from paste products myself and stopped using them a while ago. From what I remember of Tuttorosso the 'crushed tomatoes' are made the same way, only thicker. Personally I've just settled on buying whole tomatoes and running them through a food mill for puree, but I do know a few people who swear by Pomi.

[deltadoc]

I'm sitting here looking at a 6lb 11 oz can of Hunt's Tomato Puree. I used two of them last night to make about 17 qts of marinara sauce. It cost only $2.67 per can at the Sam's Club. It was around $4 a can at the Rainbow foodstore. So guess where we ended up buying it!?

My wife also cans Roma tomatoes every summer. We buy a couple of peck's worth of fresh red vine ripened Roma tomatoes, she throws them into the boiling water for 3 minutes, and then cranks them through the food mill. It separates the skins and seeds that come out the front slot, and the tomato pulp comes out the side. We collect that and fill Qt. canning bottles and put them into the pressure cooker. They last like forever. They are only slightly more watery than this Hunts Puree.

But last summer we didn't make as much as usual, so was forced to buy the Hunt's this year to make up for the deficit.

We also buy Hunt's Tomato Paste in the 6lb + cans. It's very cheap that way.

Make everything in big batches, and can it. Seems efficient and cost effective from my point of view, and when I go to the trouble of making it taste just right, then I got lots of bottles on the shelf that require no refrigeration or maintenance costs and I know just what it's going to taste like when I want some!

doc

[bleachboy]

We also buy Hunt's Tomato Paste in the 6lb + cans.  It's very cheap that way.

Make everything in big batches, and can it.

I'm with ya there. My marinara and meat sauce recipes both call for 106 ounce cans of whole tomatoes, and I usually double them. One and two-cup portions of sauce in the freezer make for great "fast food".

But... what do you do with 6 pounds of tomato paste!? I use it in my tomato sauces too, usually sauteed with some onions and garlic (I think that helps sweeten up the paste). Do you have something special you do with the leftovers? Even an 18oz can seems like too much to me.

[Jmahl]

Just this weekend I was working on a receipe that called for tomato puree - not knowing what they were talking about I took a large can of italian tomatos and ran it in the blender. Instant tomato puree - or something else that sure worked well.

[deltadoc]

But... what do you do with 6 pounds of tomato paste!?  I use it in my tomato sauces too, usually sauteed with some onions and garlic (I think that helps sweeten up the paste).  Do you have something special you do with the leftovers?  Even an 18oz can seems like too much to me.

←

I like to make this marinara sauce because its kind of lighter and not very spicy. But when I make spaghetti sauce (which I also use as pizza sauce and lasagna sauce) I like it thick. So I use the paste and dilute it with stock instead of water. Usually make up about 20 lbs of Italian sausage too, and then make two 22 qt stock pots of sauce at once with the sausage right in. Then can it!

I can't believe how fast that last 40 qts of sausage sauce went!

doc

[Mr Wozencroft]

Perhaps people I've got the wrong end of the vine.

Here, in the uk, I've always considered tomato puree to be tomatoes reduced to a thick pulp and sold in small jars or tins. Its usefull for stocks and beefing up (I know) a tomato sauce. It is often considered to have an over cooked taste compared with other canned tomato products but can be used to great effect if used in minimal quantities.

Hope this helps.

[britcook]

To add to Mr Wozencroft's point, tomato puree is also found in the UK in tubes (like toothpaste tubes) which you can squeeze to get as much as you want and then replace the cap to keep the rest for another time

[Rachel Perlow]

To add to Mr Wozencroft's point, tomato puree is also found in the UK in tubes (like toothpaste tubes) which you can squeeze to get as much as you want and then replace the cap to keep the rest for another time

←

The stuff in tubes is definitely tomato paste in the US.

[Mr Wozencroft]

Same thing!?

[memesuze]

puree is loose and liquid-y; paste is thick, as in hummous-y or thicker

Edited January 13, 2006 by memesuze (log)

[Anna N]

Today I found tomato puree in bottles at Fortinos (Burlington, ON, Canada). Brand is Paese Mio (Italy), bottle size is 720 ml and ingredients are tomatoes without seeds and salt.

[deltadoc]

UK and USA terms do vary. Biscuit in UK is Cookie in USA. A biscuit in USA is like a buttermilk yeast risen dough that is baked and has somewhat the consistency of a hamburger bun but I don't know what it's equivalent would be in the UK.

Here is the general heirarchy of tomato product as I have grown accustomed to viewing it (in order of most liquidy to least liquidy):

Tomato Juice (comes from squeezing fresh ripe tomatoes and collecting the juice)

Tomato Sauce (slightly cooked Tomato juice until it became thicker and sometimes contains spices and herbs and is easily poured from its container)

Tomato Puree (used to be slightly cooked Tomato sauce (without herbs or spices) until it became thicker, but now is mostly diluted Tomato Paste, but still can be poured from its container, although it is much slower than Sauce or Juice)

Tomato Paste (consistency of Toothpaste in a tube, very thick, your spoon will stick up in it and not move, you cannot pour it out of the can it has to literally be spooned or spatula-ed out).

doc

[scott123]

I'm not sure what their distribution area is, but Cento makes an unreconstituted puree as well.

I've been buying Cento (and Parmalat) almost exclusively, but of late, I've been giving some thought to the reconstituted stuff.

Although the reconstituted stuff lists tomato paste in the ingredients, can anyone confirm that it's the exact same tomato paste sold in the smaller cans? My feeling is that the smaller canned tomato paste is always quite a few shades darker (i.e. cooked more) than any brand of puree, reconstituted or not.