It's okay to use canned tomatoes instead of fresh in a lot of recipes.
Whether you say toe-mah-toe or toe-may-toe doesn't make a lot of difference, especially if you need tomato paste and there's nary a can in your cupboard. Tomatoes are available fresh, canned and dried. Canned tomatoes include sauces, pureed, whole, diced and crushed. Tomato paste is in a can by itself.
Instructions
1. Substitute an equal amount of drained canned diced or whole tomatoes for fresh tomatoes in dishes that are to be cooked. Rinse and drain the canned tomatoes if you're using them in a salad or salsa.
2. Use slightly more fresh tomatoes when you substitute for canned. Canned tomatoes are cooked, while fresh obviously aren't. Fresh tomatoes lose water or are "cooked down," so you need to add about 1/4 cup more fresh tomatoes per cup of fresh tomatoes. In other words if the recipe calls for 2 cups of canned drained tomatoes, use 2 1/2 cups of fresh tomatoes.
If the recipe calls for the juice in the can as well as the tomatoes, add about 1/2 cup of tomato juice in addition to the fresh tomatoes. If f you substitute for a 15-ounce can of tomatoes, for instance add 1/2 cup of tomato juice and 2 cups of diced fresh tomatoes.
3. Make tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes if your recipe calls for sauce. Skin by dipping them in boiling water for 60 seconds, and then in an ice bath. The skin slips right off. Cut in half horizontally and squeeze out the seeds like you would squeeze an orange half. Roughly chop. Add about 1/4 cup of water for every cup of tomatoes. Simmer on low heat until the tomatoes fall apart. Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture. Add seasonings such as basil, garlic or onion, if desired.
4. Reconstitute by barely covering with boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain. Use the dried tomatoes to substitute for fresh in pasta recipes. Use a 50 percent ratio. In other words, if the recipe calls for 1 cup of fresh chopped tomatoes, use 1/2 cup of reconstituted dried tomatoes. The dried tomatoes aren't as bulky as fresh.
5. Cook your own tomato paste from fresh tomatoes or canned. Tomato paste is simple a very thick version of tomato sauce. Peel, seed and chop fresh tomatoes. Whirl in the blender, and then cook over low heat until the tomatoes are reduced by half. You can also use canned tomatoes and reduce in the same method for tomato sauce.
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