San Marzano Tomatoes ... and visit to Naples

[tommy5]

i grow my garden with seeds i get from a guy who imports them from italy. I get san marzano seeds, eggplant, melon and garlic for growing from him. he is at seedsfromitaly.com

[james]

Peter,

Seeing your story from start to finish -- Italian seeds to New Zealand pizza is great. Home grown San Marzanoes in the front and your own wood-fired oven in the back. Does it get much better than that?

Can you share your technique for processing fresh tomotes? I've tried it, and it's tough to get a rich sauce that isn't watery. With spring coming to the north (sorry about that), I am guessing more of us will be making fresh pizza sauce. Thanks for the great posting.

Oh, one more thing. I think your beautiful mozzarella pizza could have done with a few more seconds in the oven.
James

[carioca]

Originally Posted by tommy5

i grow my garden with seeds i get from a guy who imports them from italy. I get san marzano seeds, eggplant, melon and garlic for growing from him. he is at seedsfromitaly.com

My organic San Marzano seeds come from a place in Queensland known for its alternative/ecological pursuits (no dutch 'imports' a la fireblight, I hope :-) ) - they may despatch to NZ or other places. Check out Green Harvest ...

I put my seeds in a bit late, the bushes grew well after transplanting but have now shed most of their fruit green. Perhaps they needed more sun...

Cheers
Carioca

[Hendo]

Pete,

Thanks for a great post. Very interesting and a joy to read!

Originally Posted by james

Can you share your technique for processing fresh tomotes? I've tried it, and it's tough to get a rich sauce that isn't watery.

James,

I have the same clicker tomato press as Pete (rather than the more expensive conical auger/sieve type), and all I do is put the tomatoes through 3 (or even 4) times to get every scrap of flesh, leaving just the skins and seeds behind. Then straight into bottles with a basil leaf or two, sealed with crown seals and into the preserving outfit, the water heated to a temperature of 212°F and boiled for 15 minutes. The preserving apparatus is switched off and the bottles are left in the sterilizer for a further 60 minutes.

The only preparation required prior to pressing them is to cut a small cross with a sharp knife at the stem end, and then into hot water to soften slightly for a few minutes. This makes the tomatoes squish more readily when they’re put through the press.

I normally use 180ml San Benedetto soft drink bottles, as they are a good size for one or two servings of pasta. The pic shows very little settlement after two years.

I used Roma tomatoes for this particular batch, but have ended up on occasions with some really watery sauces, too! It depends a lot on the type of tomato and the time of season. Later in the season tomatoes tend to become more watery, so it’s best to make lots of passata in peak season in my view. Then you’ve got a good supply for pizza and pasta sauces throughout the year.

Originally Posted by carioca

My organic San Marzano seeds come from a place in Queensland known for its alternative/ecological pursuits

I’ve just found these (see pic) at the local Italian deli! Have to wait now until next season to try them out.

Cheers, Paul.

[carioca]

Hendo, thanks for the P.d.F. tip - they look good! But sometimes seeds that are in W.A. can't get to the east coast, and vice-versa! I think Greenharvest.com.au does NOT ship a series of seeds/plants to W.A. due to quarantine issues...

NB: My green sm tomatoes still coloured up nicely on the kitchen sink, and I've been chewing them for days now!

Ciao
LMH

[james]

Paul,
I have to give my food mill another try. Summer is coming here in the north, so we will have good tomatoes soon. In fact, here we are getting nice tomatoes already from Sicily -- I think they are hot house.

I feel a poll coming on. Which tastes better:

San Marzano canned tomatoes or fresh tomatoes from your own mill?

James

[fullback66]

beautiful tomatoes. I love the color. you must have nice soil.
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