Making Apricot Passata
This year our lovely apricot tree gave us many many apricots.We ate them, dried them,made fruit leather and wine with them and we still had more!
The taste of these apricots are sweet with a sour note.When they dry,the sourness overpowers. So I tought why not make a passata out of them and use it as tomato sauce?
We have so much sun in summer,so I went with the Sicilian way of making it.
-I passed all the pitted apricots through a food mill,so they’re free of their outer skin and spread the puree on a shallow dish (oven tray works great) and I sprinkled some salt.
-I put it under the sun, covered it with a strainer or cloth to keeps bugs away.
-I stirred it every now and then(3-4 times a day).Traditionally it’s stirred with fingers.
-At nights I brought them inside,so there would be no mildew.
-As it dries,it shrinks.
-After about 3-4 days, when it became very sticky and most of the water is evaporated,I packed it tightly in a small, clean jar and poured a little bit of olive oil on top,just in case,to prevent molding.
I store it in refrigerator.But it can also be stored in a cool place like cellar.
To use it, take a teaspoon of it and mix it with water.Use it as you would use tomato paste.It’s delicious
