Peeled tomatoes

Why peeled tomatoes and not passata

With peeled tomatoes you decide the texture: crushed by hand they stay rustic, sieved they turn smooth, cooked for a long time they dry out. Passata comes already decided. They are also the right base for long cooking — ragù, stews, parmigiana — because they release their juice little by little.

How to cook them

Oil, a clove of garlic, the tomatoes crushed by hand straight into the pan, salt, and twenty minutes over a medium flame. Basil goes in at the end, not the start, or the heat kills it. Do not throw away the juice in the jar: it is what keeps the sauce soft.

Once opened

What is left keeps two or three days in the fridge in a closed container, or goes in the freezer: peeled tomatoes freeze well.