What Are Tomatoes and How Can I Use Them?

Tomato sauce  is any of a very large number of sauces made primarily from tomatoes, usually to be served as part of a dish (rather than as a condiment).

Tomato sauces are common for meat and vegetables, but they are perhaps best known as sauces for pasta dishes.

Tomatoes have a rich flavour, low liquid content, very soft flesh which breaks down easily, and the right composition to thicken into a sauce when they are cooked.

These qualities make them ideal for simple and appealing sauces.

The simplest tomato sauces consist just of chopped tomato flesh (with the skins and seeds optionally removed), cooked in a little olive oil and simmered until it loses its raw flavour, and seasoned with salt.

Water (or another, more flavourful liquid such as stock or wine) is often added to keep it from drying out too much. 

Onion and garlic are almost always sweated or sautéed at the beginning before the tomato is added.

Other seasonings typically include basil, oregano, parsley, and possibly some spicy red pepper or black pepper. Ground or chopped meat is also common.

Tomato paste is a thick paste made by adding sugar to ripened tomatoes with skin and seeds removed. Its most common culinary usage is to enrich the flavor of sauces, particularly tomato sauce. It is most commonly available in tin cans and squeeze tubes.

It was traditionally made in parts of Sicily, Southern Italy and Malta by spreading out a much reduced tomato sauce on wooden boards. The boards are set outdoors under the hot August sun to dry the paste until it is thick enough, when scraped up, to hold together in a richly colored dark ball.

Today this artisan product is harder to find than the industrial (much thinner) version.

Canned tomatoes, or tinned tomatoes, are tomatoes, usually peeled, that are sealed into a can after having been processed by heat.

Plum tomatoes are the most common choice for canning, since they have a greater solid-to-liquid ratio than other tomatoes and make a more substantial canned product. Commercial canners use a processing tomato, which has a more firm outer peel and pectin layer.

In areas and situations where in-season, perfectly ripe tomatoes are not available, canned tomatoes are often used as an alternative to prepare dishes such as tomato sauce or pizza.

The top uses for canned tomatoes are Italian or pasta sauces, chili, soup, pizza, stew, casseroles, and Mexican cuisine. As they are often more flavorful than commercially produced fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes are not well suited for curries as the flavour overpowers the spices.

Sundried tomatoes are ripe tomatoes that have had nearly all their water removed, leaving chewy, leathery pieces packed with concentrated sweetness and a deep savory punch. Drying turns the tomato's natural sugars and glutamates into something far more intense than the fresh fruit ever tastes.

You will find them two ways on the shelf. Dry-packed versions come loose in a bag and feel firm and slightly brittle. Oil-packed versions sit in a jar of olive oil, already soft and ready to eat, often with garlic or herbs added.

That single difference in packing changes how you cook with them more than anything else about the ingredient.

Cooking With Sundried Tomatoes

Oil-packed tomatoes need no prep. Lift them from the jar, blot off the excess oil, and chop them straight into pasta or scrambled eggs. The oil itself is worth saving for vinaigrettes or for sauteing, since it carries real tomato flavor.

Dry-packed tomatoes are leathery and need rehydrating first. Cover them with hot water or stock and let them sit 20 to 30 minutes until pliable, then drain and chop. Skip this step and they stay tough and chewy in the finished dish.

Their power is umami. A small handful brings savory depth that fresh tomatoes can't, which is why they work in Creamy Linguine with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and folded into Calzone with Sun-Dried Tomatoes. Chopped fine, they also stud breads like Southwest Breadgilroy.

What to Pair Them With

Sundried tomatoes love fat and salt, which round out their sharp concentration. Soft cheeses such as feta and fresh mozzarella are classic partners, as in Sun Dried Tomato & Feta Stuffed Artichokes. Cream, garlic, basil, olives, and spinach all belong in the same dish.

The common mistake is using too many. Their flavor is concentrated, so a tablespoon or two of chopped pieces seasons a whole pan. Dump in half a jar and the dish turns aggressively sour and salty, drowning everything else.

The second mistake is forgetting the salt already in them, especially oil-packed jars. Taste before you add more salt to the dish.

Substitutes

For a quick swap, sun-dried tomato paste or a spoonful of tomato paste cooked until it darkens both give you that deep, jammy concentration, though without the chew.

Semi-dried or "sunblush" tomatoes are softer and milder, so use a bit more to match the punch. Oven-roasted fresh tomato halves work in cooked dishes where texture matters less. Roasted red peppers bring sweetness and chew but lose the savory bite, so add a splash of balsamic to compensate.

None of these match the intensity exactly, so adjust salt and acid by taste after you swap.

Buying and Storing

Choose dry-packed tomatoes that are still slightly pliable rather than rock hard and cracking, a sign of age. For oil-packed jars, the tomatoes should be fully submerged in clear oil with no cloudiness.

An unopened bag of dry tomatoes keeps in the pantry for up to a year. Once opened, seal it tight and it holds for several months; refrigerate in humid climates to prevent mold.

Opened oil-packed jars must go in the fridge, where they keep for one to two weeks. Always keep the tomatoes covered by oil, since any pieces poking above the surface can spoil. The oil will cloud and thicken when cold, which is normal; it clears again at room temperature.

To make your own, save soft dry pieces by covering them with olive oil and a clove of garlic in a clean jar, then refrigerate.

Tomato juice  is the juice from skinless tomatoes. It is usually used as a beverage, either plain or in cocktails such as a Bloody Mary.

Many commercial manufacturers of tomato juice also add significant amounts of salt so be certain to check the nutrition facts if you are on a sodium restricted diet.

Other ingredients are also often added, such as onion powder, garlic powder, other spices and even clam juice. These tomato juice based, vegetable juice cocktails are popular for use in a variety of mixed drinks. One popular brand of this tomato juice mixture is Clamato, click here for a list of varieties. The tomato juice known to most people is always boiled and thus is not available as a fresh product.

A recent small scale study has indicated that tomato juice contains a factor (dubbed P3) that inhibits platelets in blood from clumping together and forming blood clots. The authors suggest this might be beneficial to diabetes sufferers. The actual effect of increased intake of tomato juice by diabetics has never been studied.

Tomato juice also contains the antioxidant lycopene**.

Scientific studies have suggested that lycopene consumption may protect against prostate cancer, breast cancer, atherosclerosis, and coronary artery disease. Epidemiological research has also shown that lycopene may also protect against breast cancer and myocardial infarction (heart attack).

You can buy a large variety of tomato juice online

Tomato purée, sometimes know as "Passata" is a thick paste that is made from strained tomatoes and especially used in Italian cooking.

The definitions of tomato purée vary between regions. In the USA, tomato purée is a processed food product, usually consisting of only tomatoes, but can also be found in pre-seasoned form. It differs from tomato sauce or tomato paste in consistency and content. Tomato puree generally lacks the additives common to a complete tomato sauce, and does not have the thicknesss of paste.

To prepare tomato purée, ripe tomatoes are washed and the leaves and stem are removed. Some processors remove the skin of the tomato as well. This is then mashed or mechanically chopped to the desired consistency.

Tomato purée can be used in soups, stews, sauces, or any other dish where the tomato flavor is desired, but not the texture. It is often deprecated by professional chefs, who find it to have an overly cooked flavor compared to other forms of canned tomatoes. This is sometimes a non-issue, as in long-cooked dishes, but in quick sauces such as a marinara sauce it is undesirable.