Concasse, means “to crush or grind”, is a cooking term meaning to rough chop any ingredient, usually vegetables. This term is particularly applied to tomatoes, where tomato concasse is a tomato that has been peeled, seeded (seeds and skins removed), and chopped to specified dimensions.
Method
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Keep the cross incision into the tomatoes and remove the eyes of the tomatoes.
- Blanch them for 30 seconds to loosen the skin and immediately shock in ice water; peel off the skin with a paring knife. Chop the tomatoes and remove the seeds.
- In a saucepan , add olive oil, bay leaf and diced onion. Sauté until translucent. Add salt so they release their liquids. This will help to bring out the natural sweetness of the onions.
- Add garlic and sauté it.
- Add the chopped tomatoes to the garlic and onions.
- Add tomato puree. This will give the body and texture to the sauce. Season with salt and black pepper .
- Simmer for about 20 minutes until the flavors come together.
- Add basil, at the end.