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Grow Tomatoes Review: Measuring Up Paste Tomatoes

July 28th, 2009 | Author: Dot

Top to Bottom: La Roma II, Federle, Mama Leone, Super Italian Paste Paste Tomatoes

DoT’s Thot: I really wanted some bragging rights at home, but made the mistake of not netting my largest Federle that was a well over six inches long (not counting any of the stem) and a girth I could not wrap my hand around.

The day I went to harvest it, there was a huge chunk taken out of my prized Federle paste tomato. The one in the photo is puny compared to the one I had to discard. No one to blame but myself — next year, I am netting those special, biggest paste tomatoes, for sure.

The Four Varieties of Paste Tomatoes in My Garden: Federle, Mama Leone, Super Italian, La Roma II

My paste tomatoes are mostly for canning and convenience, rather than for eating out of hand, so it is here that I have a number of hybrid tomato varieties. They still definitely taste better than store-bought, and do mighty well in a dish of pasta made with fresh tomatoes and herbs. Here is my roundup of descriptions and comments—

La Roma II: One of the few determinate (D) tomato plants that I bought this year, I proceeded to plant it in the ground, wholly missing the point that I want some potted tomato plants near the kitchen. The tomato plant was happy to be where it was and produces well, remains a nice small bushy plant. The tomatoes are a bright red. It is a hybrid, kind of a hardy, staple for potted tomatoes (I’ll try to do it right next year)
Federle: This has been the producer of the largest, longest, fattest paste tomatoes that I have ever planted. These make fantastic canning tomatoes for Marinara Sauce, because of the meatiness and because there are very, very few seeds. It is an indeterminate (I) sauce or paste tomato with a maturity date of 80 days. The banana-shaped fruit is said to reach 6-7 inches long (true, very true). It is also good for salsa. It is a hybrid tomato.
Mama Leone Tomatoes: This is an heirloom tomato(I), not a hybrid and as such produces very beautiful, full red, large, pointed plum tomatoes that are 5 to 8 ounces each Again, the tomatoes are meaty with few seeds, rich in flavor. After this measuring, I have picked fruit larger and plumper than the one pictured. Not as prolific as some of the hybrids, but I love the flavor so much, I will definitely buy this one again, especially for fresh tomato pasta dishes and salsa.
Super Italian Paste: I keep wanting to reverse the words, but realized that Italian Super Paste doesn’t say what I meant (highly localized dyslexia). This is an indeterminate plant (I) producing fairly large fruit. The one I pictured turned out to be shorter and skinnier than the ones I harvested later. Super Italian Paste tomatoes are very meaty, orange-red fruit. This is an heirloom tomato and I was hoping for better performance than I got on this one. The plant and tomatoes did not fare as well as Federle and for what I want, this is one of the few tomato varieties that I reluctantly put on my only “maybe” list. There were quite a few tomatoes that did not hold up well on the bush and when picked.

The Measuring up of the Four Varieties of Paste Tomatoes

For size, production, convenience and canning: I liked Mama Leone and Federle best.
For that bright red color: I liked Mama Leone best
For sweetness: a tie between Mama Leone and Super Italian Paste (but seemed to not hold up as well)
Bottom Line: I will look for Mama Leone and Federle again next year. Alternatives will definitley be in the running for Super Italian Paste and La Roma II, though I would pick these up if I cannot find something better for a non-red paste tomato or for a determinate potted paste tomato.

Marinara Sauce Made from Federle, Mama Leone, Italian Super Paste and La Roma

I did make and can some very nice Marinara Sauce using a mix of these paste tomatoes. Look for another posting on this, because this one is getting too long. It was a nice, sweet, flavorful mix and I look forward to having this sauce during the winter months.

Two Paste Tomatoes I Like, But Couldn’t Get This Year: New Zealand Pink and Amish Paste

I have tried other paste tomatoes and two that I look for and could not get my hands on this year (I buy the seedlings, not seeds) were New Zealand Pink Paste and Amish Paste. The New Zealand Paste is great eaten out of hand and looks and tastes great in fresh tomato pasta. Amish is just one of those flavorful, reliable, productive paste tomatoes that I love having in the garden. Maybe next year, I will find one or the other or both.

Conclusion

I do save myself some time in shopping by allowing myself to get some reliable hybrid tomatoes for canning — some of my canned tomatoes go into spiced and herbed dishes and many tomatoes taste fine in those. For fresh tomato pasta — stir frying thin spaghetti noodles with fresh tomatoes and herbs with olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper — I would always want to have some of those extra tasty heirloom paste tomatoes in the garden.

Aloha, DoT

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