Estratto di Pomodoro from Maria Grammatico
Italian Tomato Paste, Made the Authentic Way
Maria Grammatico estratto di pomodoro is a tomato paste like no other. It is still made the old fashioned way with three key ingredients: San Marzano tomatoes, Sicilian sun and time. The result is a rich, brick-red, umami-packed paste that adds instant concentrated tomato flavor with just a spoonful.
This almost magical paste starts with ripe tomatoes that are carefully ground by hand and then spread on taulieri, wooden boards seasoned with years of tomato-drying. The boards are placed on the rooftop of Maria's pasticceria under the hot summer sun to dry for 8 to 10 days. Each evening at dusk, the boards are placed inside to prevent any night moisture damaging the drying paste. The paste is folded everyday with a large flat wooden spatula and placed back on the roof at sunrise. The turning of the paste is done twice daily for even drying and achieving the right paste consistency.
When the paste is just right, it is salted with Sicilian sea salt from Trapani and transferred to large clay jars, called candari, and covered in a layer of Sicilian extra virgin olive oil to preserve its color and intensity of flavor.
Unlike commercial tomato paste which is heavily-pasteurized to ease the canning process, Maria's is unpasteurized and hand-packed, the way it's always been done (this means the lids won't be "compressed", like some jarred preserves).
How to use
Just a small spoonful of estratto will bring depth, sweetness and complexity to any tomato-based sauce. Add a teaspoon or two to a minestrone soup or fish stew, as well as when making marinades and rubs for grilled meats. A traditional snack for lucky Sicilian children is a bit of tomato paste spread on a slice of bread and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil...simple, but perfect.
Featured in these recipes:
Best tomato paste hands down, have tried the best of the best and this is it
Growing up my Mom would make this in the summer and we’d store and use it the remainder of the year when making sauce. Although a bit pricy, it’s exactly like hers and I’m enjoying it greatly.
As the others have said, the very, very best!
Adds thickness and flavor no other paste provides
There is no getting around the fact that this is very expensive compared to the sort of commercial tomato paste we usually find even in gourmet markets. That said, this is still an amazing value - it is so flavorful, so intense, so concentrated that you can use less of it that you would any other tomato paste, and you will still get a stunning intensification of flavor. I added some of this to a Bolognese sauce I was making and it moved it to an entirely new level. I purchased the larger size and am so glad I did - it's so concentrated I at first thought it would last forever, but no, it's so good I'm using it up at a ferocious rate, adding it to many different pasta sauces and stews. Love this ingredient.