Make Instant Pot Tomato Sauce Using Just Two Ingredients
As the tomato season draws to a close, one (s) tends to find himself buying what is officially known as the “metric stack” of tomatoes. Now I can eat a lot of tomato sandwiches, but tomatoes have a ripeness period that only avocados can rival, so it’s helpful to have a “use them all very quickly” back-up plan.
Enter my friend Amanda, who grew up and donated many metric barrels of tomatoes this summer. Her solution to this “problem” of abundance was elegant: use the Instant Pot to peel the fruit under pressure and then – using the slow cook mode – concentrate the summer, mind-filled goodness by evaporating the excess water. You will need a food mill – I have one for 20 bucks – but the only ingredients you need are tomatoes, some liquid to pressurize the pan (I used wine), and maybe a large pinch of salt. It’s so simple that it hardly counts as a recipe, but I’ll be happy to walk you through the process.
First, take all the tomatoes you have (I had about five pounds), wash them and put them in your Instant Pot insert. Don’t remove the stems (some say they add a hint of herbs). Do not twist them. Definitely don’t sow them . Add a cup of your favorite liquid. It can be water or wine, but stay away from anything with a higher persistence, as liquor can create a flammable cloud of vapor , which is bad.
Close the pot and press the Manual or Pressure Cooking button. Use the “+” and “-” buttons to set the cooking time to three minutes. After this time has elapsed, let the pressure drop naturally, then open the instant container and transfer the contents to a large bowl.
Then take the mill and start grinding the tomatoes in the saucepan. First you say, “Um, this is just tomato juice,” but don’t worry. Continue chopping these succulent bois until you have stems, seeds, and skins. Don’t throw them away: mix them with an equal weight of salt and oven dry to make tomato salt. ( See the complete process here .)
Leave the lid on the Instant Pot, press the Slow Cook button and use the Adjust button to make sure it is set to Normal. Let the sauce simmer and set for 15 hours, stirring occasionally if desired. During cooking, I stirred maybe three times, more for myself than for the sauce.
This will give you about one and a half liters of a very savory sauce. I prefer mine to be crumbly enough so that I can continue cooking it with other ingredients and not worry about it getting too thick. If you want your food to be thicker, just cook it longer. If you want tomato paste, wait another 15 hours. Once you reach the consistency you want, spoon it over or into soup jars or containers and place in the fridge or freezer. Repeat as needed until the supply of tomatoes runs out, making sure to take a tomato sandwich break from time to time.