Nonna keeps three tins in her cupboard without fail: chopped, polpa, and whole plum tomatoes. If chopped tomatoes are convenient and passata is smooth, plum tomatoes are where serious sauce-making begins.
Plum tomatoes are whole, peeled tomatoes packed in their own juice. Unlike chopped tomatoes, nothing has been done to the texture for you, and that is the whole point. Nonna wants to decide exactly how chunky or smooth her sauce turns out, and plum tomatoes give her that control.
Here is how she gets the most out of a tin.
Why Italian Cooks Love Plum Tomatoes
Plum tomatoes are oval, meaty, and lower in seeds and water than round tomatoes, which is why they are the variety most often used for tinning. Left whole in the tin, they hold their shape until you break them down yourself, either with a spoon, your hands, or by chopping them on a board.
That is different from chopped tomatoes, which arrive pre-diced, or passata, which is already smooth. Plum tomatoes sit at the start of that spectrum, giving you the most say over the final texture of your sauce.
Nonna’s Tips for Plum Tomatoes
Nonna’s Tip 1: Crush Plum Tomatoes By Hand
Nonna does not reach for a blender. She crushes plum tomatoes straight in the pan, using a wooden spoon or her hands over a bowl first. It is slower, but it keeps some texture in the sauce rather than turning everything uniformly smooth.
Nonna’s Tip 2: Use Every Drop of the Juice
Plum tomatoes are packed in their own juice, and Nonna never drains it away. That juice carries flavour and helps the sauce come together, so it goes straight into the pan along with the tomatoes.
Nonna’s Tip 3: Start with a Proper Soffritto
Before the tomatoes go in, Nonna softens onion, garlic, and sometimes celery or carrot in olive oil over a low heat. This base is what gives a plum tomato sauce its depth, so it is worth the extra ten minutes.
Nonna’s Tip 4: Let the Sauce Do Its Thing
A good plum tomato sauce is not rushed. Nonna lets it simmer gently, uncovered, so it can reduce and thicken naturally rather than being forced along on a high heat.
Nonna’s Tip 5: Season at the End, Not the Start
Nonna tastes as she goes, then gives the sauce one final seasoning check before serving.
Why not discover how Nonna uses passata, or find out more about Napolina plum tomatoes today.
