Best Passata Day ever! Great tomatoes, even better company and a bonus electrical storm in the middle. What more could you ask for when spending a day storing the season of Summer?
This was our second Passata Day held up in the 107 rooftop garden – and it was a hot one. But we’d moved it to the afternoon, so we thought we’d be ok.
The beautiful organic tomatoes were sourced, transported and waiting patiently in their boxes, the fresh pasta had arrived, there was plenty of parmesan and good olive oil.
And Fabio was in fine form and ready to go. He’s our passata machine – a Fabio Leonardi brand, which we purchased some years ago after extensive Italian Nonna research as to the best kind to get.
Then everyone arrived, and so we got cracking.
We were about 3 big boxes of tomatoes away from the end of squishing every tomato in sight when the sky went black and the heavens opened, with bonus lightning in large amounts.
Luckily there were plenty of hands to move the tomato-preparing + bottling stations inside, while Fabio stayed out under the tent and squished every tomato he was fed.
Time to feed us all too – a simple but delicious supper of tomato passata, organic and freshly made fettuchini, beautiful parmesan, basil from the garden, a dash of olive oil and salt, and fresh bread.
Washed down with wine for the big people, and minty cordial for the smaller folks.
There’s still plenty of tomato season ahead, if you’d like to make some too!
See our How to Make Passata guide for tips, then get some bottles and tomatoes, and get squishing.
It’s a great day to spend with friends and family.
Your winter soups and stews (actually, everything you cook until next tomato season) will be the happier for it.
A rousing thank you to…
Mahbrook Organics for the beautiful tomatoes | Pasta Emilia for the organic fresh pasta + parmesan | Cake Wines for the plonk | Bread and Butter project for the rolls | Pepe Saya for the butter | Rosnay for the organic olive oil | Grow Farm Forage for the backup basil | The Milkwood crew, as always | Everyone who came along to share and squish and bottle and eat with us.
( We like to thank our suppliers no matter if their stuff came free or we paid full price. Dedicated + ethical makers and growers like these are what makes our food systems awesome.)
And a specially huge thanks to Hellene Algie for the beautiful photos. Here’s her Instagram account too.
