Tomatoes have become the ultimate staples and are widely used in different savory recipes. Tomatoes are known for their healthy nutritional count and are versatile enough to be used in multiple recipes. These are extremely easy to use and cook with.
However, some people use pureed forms for quick cooking but passata vs. tomato sauce is an extremely common comparison. With this article, we are sharing the differences between these two forms of tomato pastes.
Passata vs Tomato Sauce
Passata
To begin with, it is plain tomato and is pureed and passed through a special strainer to remove the tomato chunks. In particular, the sieve is used for straining out the tomato chunks to ensure the passata is fully smooth. There are no additional flavorings in this tomato puree but some people do add salt. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that passata is similar to canned and crushed tomatoes that have a thick puree-like consistency.
If you want to make passata on your own, you will just have to push canned tomatoes through the sieve and get the same consistency. Passata is perfect for making tomato-flavored sauce since it has a thicker consistency and it can also be used in place of canned tomatoes. That being said, passata can be used to make soups and pasta sauce but it doesn’t need simmering (simmering will thin up the puree’s consistency). However, if you do thin it up, you can add crushed tomatoes to get the thick consistency.
Passata can be easily found in the grocery stores and supermarkets as long as you check the pasta aisle. In addition, the farmer markets will have freshly made pasta. To illustrate, there are different varieties of passata available at Italian deli points. When compared to canned tomatoes, passata will have a higher weight value. When it comes down to passata, it has a sweet and less sour flavor which makes it a perfect base for sauces and soups.
When it comes down to passata, it has a creamy texture since it’s made by skinning the tomatoes and passing them through a sieve. As for the sweet flavor, it’s attained by de-acidifying the tomatoes. If you are concerned about the usage of passata, it can be used in place of glass tomatoes, ripe and canned tomatoes. The biggest differentiation factor is that passata is not cooked and is made from raw tomatoes.
Tomato Sauce
Tomato sauce is just another tomato sauce and is made of tomatoes. Tomato sauce is used to be served with different dishes but it’s never used as a condiment. For the most part, tomato sauce is used for vegetables and meat but makes a great addition to pasta sauce and salsa (yes, the Mexican one). Tomato sauce has a rich flavor because it’s made with a huge percentage of tomatoes. This sauce is thinner as compared to purees but can be thickened up by adding roux.
It is often considered the same as ketchup and people from South Africa, India, New Zealand, and India uses it as a condiment. The most surprising thing about tomato sauce is that it has been around since 1694. There are different varieties of tomato sauces available, such as one made with chopped tomatoes which are simmered to eliminate the raw flavor. In addition, it’s seasoned with herbs, spices, and salt. Some people also peel and scald the tomato skins to add texture to the sauce.
With tomato sauce, seeds are removed and the flesh is pulped up. On the other hand, some people add other flavorings to enhance the flavor. For instance, water, wine, or stock is added to thin up the texture while sautéed and sweated garlic and onions are used (they are added before adding tomatoes). As far as the seasoning is concerned, they include chili peppers, black peppers, basil, parsley, and oregano. Not to forget, some people do add chopped and/or ground meat.
We do want to add that different variety of tomato sauce are used for different recipes, such as Mexican, Italian, French, Australian, UK, South African, and New Zealand versions. There is an American variant of tomato sauce and even that has two varieties (one variety has minimal herbs but high salt amount but the second one uses garlic and olive oil).