tomato paste

[eatrustic]

I'm in the middle of making Mario's Ragu Bolognese and his recipe calls for 6 oz of tomato paste. I have the Doppio Concentrato in the tube. Does this mean that I should use half as much (Doppio meaning double)? I would hate to overkill all that veal, pancetta and pork with too much tomato. Thanks

[snowangel]

My BIL and I have each done a few Mario recipes with tomato paste, and in our opinions, he calls for too much. We have each wished we had cut the amount in half, or used just a quarter of what he called for.

BTW, not familiar with the product to which you refer.

[Nathan P.]

I agree that you should be conservative in your tomato paste usage. I actully prefer his recipe that uses tomatoes instead of the paste. Either way it is good and leftover sauce freezes very well.

[BarbaraY]

It seems to me with that much tomato paste it is all one would taste. This is the reason that tomato paste comes in tubes. In Bolognese sauce, I use only a couple of tablespoons.

[Brad Ballinger]

You think you have problems? I have a tube of triplo.

[eatrustic]

I actually was making half the recipe so since it called for 3 oz. of t. paste I backed that off (after the above comments) to 2 oz. and the final result seems just fine, not overly tomatoed.

The question still remains though since it may be a case of cutting back on Mario vs. the Dopio Concentrato being stronger. (I also have some triplo!).

Anyone with a definitive answer or do I have to jump to the Italy forum??

[Toliver]

I actually was making half the recipe so since it called for 3 oz. of t. paste I backed that off (after the above comments) to 2 oz. and the final result seems just fine, not overly tomatoed.

The question still remains though since it may be a case of cutting back on Mario vs. the Dopio Concentrato being stronger. (I also have some triplo!).

Anyone with a definitive answer or do I have to jump to the Italy forum??

←

I Googled "doppio Concentrato" and found that the concentration can vary depending upon the maker and the product.

This web site states that theirs is a double concentrate.

If what you have is a similar product, then halving the amount would be correct.

edited to add: I'm thinking that it should say something on the label about the concentration. You could always type the label info into a Babelfish translator on the internet to see what it says.

Edited January 25, 2006 by Toliver (log)