How to Make Tomato Puree at Home, Quick & Easy

I don't like purchasing certain items from stores that I can make at home without preservatives.  And Alok doesn't like my habit of making things at home and freezing them.

What do I freeze?

a) green chili, ginger, and garlic pastes;

b) berries and strawberry puree;

c) paneer, corn kernels, and mint leaves;

d) fruits/vegetables about to rot;

e) tomato purée, such as in this post;

f) a lot of other things.

You can definitely use store bought tomato purée in your cooking, but if you want to know how to make tomato purée at home and freeze it, continue to read.  Especially if your tomatoes are turning very soft and are about to rot, or you bought tons of tomatoes on sale, or you don't know what to do with extra tomatoes.  Basically, just read on  =)

Step 1: cook (blanch) tomatoes in boiling water

Step 1:  Wash tomatoes and dunk them in boiling water on medium heat.  I like to hull the tomatoes: removing the green part on top with a regular knife.  It's easier to do it before than after boiling.  Number of tomatoes?  As many or few.  Quantity of water?  Just enough to cover the tomatoes.  Covering with lid makes it faster, not covering it doesn't make any difference.

Step 2: switch off heat when tomato softens

Step 2:  When you start to see the cracks or skin on tomatoes almost coming off, switch off heat.  Drain water, keep tomatoes aside until they reach room temperature.  Why wait until tomatoes cool down?  Just so your fingers can handle, and that your blender blade doesn't spoil because of hot tomatoes.  Rest is up to you.

{update: Vishakha adds a great tip - "If I am running out of time, I sometimes take the blanched tomatoes and put them in cold water (tap water + ice cubes)".
Anisha shares her method - "I don't usually cook the tomatoes just give them a shock treatment. 1 minute in boiling hot water and then place it in cold water. Putting a small cross with knife on the skin of the tomato makes peeling the skin off easier."}

Step 3: churn in processor

Step 3:  Peel the skin or leave them on like I did.  Then randomly cut them, churn in blender until smooth.  Don't need to add extra water to blend, tomato has enough of its own.  Then, you can choose to strain the puree and discard seeds.  Or if you've churned it as good and as long as I have, there are no visible seeds.  Here, you can either use this fresh homemade tomato purée in your cooking, or continue to freeze.

Step 4: freeze

Step 4:  Measure in tablespoons and freeze in ice cube tray, or in ½ cup to 1 cup quantities like I do.  It will be easier to use them in recipe later if your tomato purée is measured beforehand.  I froze them in bowls, covered with plastic wrap.  Next day, I kept the bowls out for 5 minutes and transferred frozen purée to ziploc bag, stacking one over another to save space in freezer.  Done.

You can thaw the tomato purée at room temperature before using in cooking.  Or how I used the frozen tomato purée in a rush in my green moong dal recipe.

Do you freeze?  What do you freeze?