paste - concentrated cooked tomato flavour without having to add a ton of water puree - fresh light tomato flavour, the body of the sauce sun dried - mostly texture imo
I have recently started cooking pasta out of interest.
I have seen some pasta recipes whereby they add tomato paste, tomato puree, sun-dried tomatoes and fresh cherry tomatoes as ingredients in a single dish recipe.
I am curious to know why they add all these different types of tomato ingredients in a single dish when they are all related to tomatoes.
Why are different types of tomato ingredients added to certain pasta dishes?
What effect does each ingredient have on the pasta dish?
- tomato paste,
- tomato puree,
- sun-dried tomatoes
Thank you.
paste - concentrated cooked tomato flavour without having to add a ton of water puree - fresh light tomato flavour, the body of the sauce sun dried - mostly texture imo
Tomato paste - intense taste Tomato puree - bulk in sauce and consistent taste Sun dried tomatoes - taste without the bulk
It's worth mentioning that what we call "tomato paste" in the US is actually called "tomato puree" in some parts of Europe. I think mostly just in the UK, but I'm not too sure. What we call "tomato puree" in the US is often called "passata" as well, but passata is typically more smooth than tomato puree in the US. As if it wasn't already confusing enough!
Tomato paste: used in small amounts for an umami hit, I don't usually see it in dishes where tomatoes are a star unless there's another kind of tomato in there too Tomato puree: this is the bulk of the dish and one of the main things you'll be seeing and tasting for pasta dishes, chili, stews, etc Sun-dried tomatoes: usually I'll see this as a garnish, like topping a pizza or added at the end to a stew. They have a bold, distinct flavor that'll draw a lot of attention to them, much like olives or capers tend to become the star of whatever dishes they're added to
Tomato paste is concentrated deep tomato flavour you don't need much of it, tomato puree is the same thing on my side of the atlantic but I think you're talking about what we call passata which is blended and strained liquid tomatoes - it is lighter in flavour and colour, and larger in volume. Sun dried tomatoes are a different flavour and texture to fresh tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes are smaller and sweeter.