Pantry Staples

Tomato Paste

Tomato paste's concentrated glutamates give it a genuine umami boost, which is part of why even a small spoonful can round out a dish's savoriness well beyond what a milder tomato product would add.

Historically, before mass canning and shipping made fresh tomatoes available year-round, concentrated paste was a practical way for a household or region to preserve a harvest's flavor through the off-season.

It shows up in some Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking as a base for a simple spread, thinned with olive oil and lemon, a use quite different from its more familiar role deepening a simmered sauce.

Double- and triple-concentrated tomato paste, common in Italian and Middle Eastern brands, is cooked down even further than standard American paste, meaning a recipe written around one of those concentrated versions may need noticeably less to reach the same intensity.

Rob, a very thick, sun-dried tomato paste traditional across parts of the Middle East and North Africa, is spread thin on trays and reduced in the sun rather than industrially cooked down, a slower, more artisanal route to the same basic concentration.

A spoonful browned directly in the pan's fat before any liquid is added — the base of a bolognese, a chili, or a curry — is one of its most common uses beyond simply thinning it into a sauce, building a flavor foundation rather than seasoning an already-finished dish.

Commercial tomato paste production dates back to the late 19th century, originally developed as a way to preserve and concentrate a tomato harvest's flavor for shipping and storage before refrigeration and off-season imports made fresh tomatoes a year-round option.

Its deep red color and thick texture also make it a natural base ingredient for a homemade barbecue sauce, contributing both body and tang alongside the vinegar and sweetener most barbecue sauce recipes build around.

A well-stocked Italian pantry often keeps a triple-concentrated tube specifically for a quick weeknight sauce, since its intensity means a small amount reaches a flavor depth that a longer-simmered sauce would otherwise take considerably more time to build.

A dollop stirred into a pot of chili near the start of cooking, rather than at the end, gives it time to caramelize slightly against the hot pan before the rest of the liquid goes in, deepening the finished dish's flavor.

Some Middle Eastern dishes whisk a spoonful into a simple yogurt-and-garlic sauce for color and a subtle tang, a savory, uncooked use quite different from browning it in a hot pan first.

Pairing it with smoked paprika and cumin is a common shortcut for building a deep-flavored stew base quickly, without needing hours of simmering to develop the same savory depth from scratch.

A thin layer spread on pizza dough in place of a thinned-out sauce gives a more concentrated tomato flavor across a smaller amount of topping.