No Tomato Paste, so....

[Stock Pot]

I have blended up a can of diced tomatoes and plan to cook those down and add some tomato paste to thicken it up. This is for beef enchiladas tonight. Here's hoping it is a reasonably good substitute.

[CraigC]

I've never made a red sauce for enchiladas with tomatoes. It has always been from dried, toasted, seeded, mild red chilis, reconstituted with stock.

[caseydog]

Substitute for what? Your title says no tomato paste, but your post says you're going to use tomato paste.

If you are wondering about a substitute for tomato paste, you can simmer tomato sauce to reduce it to a thickness that would work.

CD

[rodentraiser]

Isn't that just what tomato paste is? Tomato sauce simmered and reduced to a paste? When I screw up tomato sauce, that what it sure looks like, anyway.

[Cheryl J]

Originally Posted by Stock Pot

I have blended up a can of diced tomatoes and plan to cook those down and add some tomato paste to thicken it up. This is for beef enchiladas tonight. Here's hoping it is a reasonably good substitute.

Hi, Stock Pot. Did you mean to say tomato sauce instead of tomato paste, since you mentioned you were out of tomato paste? What seasonings do you plan to add?

There are a lot of canned and bottled enchilada sauces out there that are pretty darn good. As Craig said, they're usually based on chiles, stock and seasoning. It's kind of a long process to make from scratch, to be honest.

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Enchilada Sauce I

Ingredients:

1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp flour
4 tsp chili powder
6oz chicken stock
1 Tbs tomato paste
¼ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp ground cumin
pinch salt

Instructions:

In a small saucepan heat oil, add flour, smoothing and stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook for 1 minute. Add chili powder and cook for 30 seconds. Add stock, tomato paste, oregano, and cumin. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.

Enchilada Sauce II

Ingredients:

2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, undrained
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 clove garlic, minced

Instructions:

Puree ingredients in blender. Heat in sauce pan over medium for 5 minutes.

[Stock Pot]

Uh, yes. Trying to make tomato sauce. Sorry. It came out OK, not great.

[caseydog]

Ah, to make tomato sauce, you can certainly use diced tomatoes blended with tomato paste. The results will depend on the diced tomatoes.

You say it came out OK, but not great. Was the flavor a bit weak? If so, did you drain the diced tomatoes before you blended them? The tomato paste will help with a flavor boost, but it can only do so much. If you start with diced tomatoes, I would recommend that you drain them well to have lots of "meat" and no "water."

CD

[Stock Pot]

Yes, exactly. A little weak. Not bad but could be better. Good advice, thanks. At least I was on the right track.

[Cheryl J]

But that's not an enchilada sauce, which is what Stock Pot wanted to use for enchiladas. I'm confused.

[Stock Pot]

No, I had enchilada sauce on hand. Recipe called for both that and tomato sauce. So I took a stab at it. Not bad, but not great in the fake tomato sauce dept.