In July and August tomatoes are ripe and juicy and ready to be picked. Many Italian families will go through a long and intense period of very hard work to transform these tomatoes into a delicious, and a true classic of Italian cuisine: the “passata” or tomato sauce.
Here we are near Tropea in a beautiful farm immersed in the Calabrian countryside.
Everything is still so natural and unspoilt here and that is Calabria! So wild and beautiful.
Tomatoes are selected and picked
Tomatoes need to be very ripe, bright red and soft to qualify for passata making
They are then carried from the field in a wheelbarrow
They are washed ready to be turned into that bright red juice that’s called passata
First they are put into boiling water for about 10-15 minutes and then sieved through a “passata making” machine to remove all the skins, seeds and core which are not added and which if retained would prevent the sauce from obtaining a delicious, silky and smooth texture.
Maria is now very busy!
Often the whole family is involved
Often herbs are added to the passata for an extra aromatic flavour. Here you have plenty of fresh basil and oregano from the field which if added to the passata forms and irresistibly tasty combination!
Jars are washed and prepared for bottling the passata.
After the passata is added they are then boiled for about 10 minutes to seal them and to make sure the contents are well preserved.
A jar of passata prepared in this way can keep perfectly well for years.
It really is hard work but the end result is certainly worth it!
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Aw Alida what beautiful and lovely post!
I love these amazing and ripe tomatoes.You make me feel nostalgic about our summer:))
Dear Alida,
Great story on “passata.” Love when you take us with you on these journeys. Especially that my family is from Calabria, I enjoy seeing the country. The tomatoes look so ripe and ready to eat. I can see that it is very hard work and very intense. But as you said, it is all worth it at the end! Delizioso! Thank you for sharing, have a wonderful day…
Dottie 🙂
My pleasure Dottie. I can imagine your parents doing all of this during their time in Italy. And I am sure you know most of it too! Mothers are often the best teachers!
Love this post Alida! It’s so great to see the traditional way of doing things. I love passata, but didn’t realise it was such an intensive process to make it. I had no idea there was a machine for removing the ‘bits’ form the tomatoes!
Alida,
I love this post. This time of year I see all of these machines on sale in the stores. It always made me smile thinking about someone making their own passata, because in the States, we have NO idea how or where it comes from…it is just there in the supermarket. These are some of the things I love about living in Italy! 🙂
Have a good weekend!
I love homemade passata. Nothing else beats it! Ciao!
Thanks Alida for posting this, Antonio and Maria are so happy you did it. They are making some more “passata” today. It is amazing the way the do it.
And Francesca, I told Antonio you want to hug him ….well you made his day 😉
Love from Calabria
Lucky you to have such a fab passata! It must taste amazing! A big kiss to both Antonio and Maria!!
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