If you use tomato puree (paste) in cooking it has great benefits!!
By oldchem1
@oldchem1 (8132)
May 18, 2010 3:01am CST
I do a lot of Italian style cooking and do get through quite a lot of tomato puree.
Tomato purée is a processed food consisting of only tomatoes,(although it can be bought with garlic , herbs etc added) It lacks the additives that are used in tomato sauces..
If using an American recipe you will see tomato purée referred to as concentrated tomato paste.
Tomato puree is an excellent ingredient for use in low fat and healthy cooking, if following Weight Watchers you do not need to count the puree.
PER SERVING PER 100g
Energy 59kJ (14kcal) 390kJ (95kcal)
Protein 0.7g 4.8g
Carbohydrate 2.7g 18.1g
sugars 2.7g 18.1g
Fat trace trace
saturates trace trace
Fibre 0.4g 2.5g
Sodium* trace 0.1g
*Salt Equivalent trace 0.3g
Tomato purée is fanyastic in most Italian dishes and any tomato based recipes, it adds a rich flavour and a bright colour to sauces and soups, marinades, pizzas etc.
It is also good added to curries.
Because the flavour is very strong, use sparingly or else it can overpower the other ingredients if not.
As well as an essential store cupboard ingredient you would be surprised to know that tomato puree is also claimed to be a an anti-aging product and an aid to health.
Anti-aging
Tomatoes contain a high proportion of the antioxidant lycopene, which is believed to be one of the best antioxidants in helping with protecting skin from harmful UV rays that can result in both premature ageing and cancers.
Unfortunatly you would have to eat mountains of raw tomatoes to obtain the amounts needed and apparently the body cannot make use of the antioxidant when in the form of raw tomatoes. However the British Society for Investigative Dermatology also found a daily intake of five table spoons of tomato puree can reverse ageing and increase procollagen production, which keeps the skin firm.
Health
Tomatoes will give you the following nutritional benefits, tomato puree is at least double concentrated and so is even more beneficial:-
Vitamin C (40% of recommended daily value in one tomato)
Vitamin A (20% RDA)
Vitamin K (over 15% RDA)
Decent source (7% RDA) of fiber
Potassium, niacin, vitamin B6, folate
Lycopene (antioxidant)
All those nutrients can improve your health in the following ways:-
Lots of cancer protection
Protects against heart disease, stroke
Colon and prostate health
Improves LDL cholesterol
Natural anti-inflammatory (helps with above diseases plus Alzheimer's and osteoporosis)
Bone health
Reduces stress
Can reduce frequency of migraines
Helps regulate blood sugar in diabetics
Tomatoes are so good for you, but are one fruit/vegetable that are better cooked or processed!!
Do you use it a lot?
1 person likes this
5 responses
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36847)
• Pamplona, Spain
18 May 10
Hiya chem,
Tomatoes I use a lot of them but mainly in Salads. Sometimes I will make my own sauces with fresh Tomato. The tomato puree they sell here has way too much salt in it and citric acid. Apart from that there is not much of tomato puree to be found more like they sell it in another form or canned tomatoes. Telling fibs here now I remember they do sell it in tetra pack form but again I tried it and the taste is quite awful it does not even taste like tomato to me at all. But again in England there was a brand I did use and that was very good no problems there. It used to come in a Tube container probably it´s still the same. I really wish they would make a decent tomato puree here too as I always have not got the time to go peeling or skinning tomatoes.
I am always looking for something decent and quick but I suppose I will resort back to my good old fresh tomatoes again.
If I remember the tomato puree I used in England was called Buitoni? Remember it. I think the Italians make the best tomato puree anyway.
1 person likes this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36847)
• Pamplona, Spain
18 May 10
Hiya chem,
Ah Buitoni that´s it. Their tomato puree tastes like tomato and not like most of the stuff they sell here. It tastes like pulp but with no taste in it sort of like a stale socks smell and taste. Another description would be it tastes like dried up potato crisps and soggy that´s the only way I can describe it. Personally I have made better myself and some of these sauces I have tried and are loaded with an oil very greasy that does not taste like olive oil at all. I wonder what on earth they put in it?
I can get Buitoni pasta and all that but their tomato puree is much more difficult. to find too. Very surprising for a Country where tomatoes abound. Remember when the craze was Spanish Tomatoes from Marks and Spencer the tomatoes they exported to England were fantastic they still grow them but they are only sold the real ones that is in the nearby villages like Funes and Marcilla and San Adrian. Long way to go for a decent tomato don´t you think?
Sounds like you have fun with Italian cooking.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (230350)
• Chile
31 May 10
I just read that tomato and olive oil does help skin, a small study says. Another study ( a larger one by far) turned into the DASH diet, a dietary approach to hypertension. Both studies say that the body can "pick up" better the small quantities of vitamins and mineral present in food (as well as the antioxidants) than if you get them with pills. Raw veggies, cooked from scratch (if you want a sauce)are better as canned food have too much sodium.
@GardenGerty (169474)
• United States
18 May 10
What you have stated is correct. It seems that you absorb the nutrients a little better if you make a recipe that has a little oil in it, as well. When you have a recipe that only calls for a spoonful, then leaves you with an open, unused can, freeze the tomato paste in ice cube trays. Then you have a tablespoon full or two any time you need it.
@nangisha (3495)
• Indonesia
19 May 10
Hi that very valuable information and great discussion. Sadly in never use tomato pure in my life. We always use fresh tomato at home because most Indonesian food need tomato to made it, so we use a lot of tomato. We always have tomato in a year so we never think about substitution like tomato pure. I think fresh tomato is a better choice because its fresh and here it quite cheap.
@tonanana (91)
• China
18 May 10
yes,i love tomatoes very much.lately,i has been on a diet to loose weight,and tomatoes help me a lot to resist against hunger. i am lazy that i prefer less food to more exercise.when it comes to be lunch time or supper time,i would choose tomatoes instead of fast food with high erergy.and tomatoes really has effect on my way to the slim body~~~haha
