Raw Tomato Coulis Recipe

Serious Eats has an abundance of tomato sauce recipes, for when you have an overabundance of ripe tomatoes. From a sauce made with fresh tomatoes, to a complex oven-roasted sauce from Kenji, and a simple marinara from yours truly. 

But recently I noted that we were lacking a basic purée (called a coulis in French or a passata in Italian). You can make this pantry staple with briefly cooked tomatoes, or raw. This is what you want to make when you have perfectly ripe, peak summer tomatoes (in other cases, there are some great bottled passatas).

For a raw tomato coulis, we'll use a blender instead of a pot. This means we'll have to remove the skins and seeds first so that we don't blend them into the sauce—they can add unwanted flavors if not strained out. Plus, because we're not cooking this coulis, we need to remove some moisture to prevent wateriness in the finished purée, which also means the seeds need to go.

To peel the tomatoes, I cut out the stem end and score an X into the skin with a sharp knife. Then I drop them in boiling water until the skins just start to show signs of coming loose around the score marks (just about 30 seconds to a minute). Finally, I transfer the tomatoes to an ice bath to shock them and stop the cooking; this will help loosen the skins even more. You should be able to just peel them right off with your hands.

Then I quarter the tomatoes lengthwise and scoop the seeds out with my fingers. I dice the remaining tomato flesh, transfer it to a mesh strainer set over a bowl, and sprinkle it liberally with salt, which will draw out moisture. After about 30 minutes to an hour, I purée the pulp with a blender. The purée has a very bright, fresh flavor, like gazpacho—but without any of the other ingredients, obviously.

You can pass this purée through a really fine strainer if you want a smoother texture, or leave it as is. Coulis freezes beautifully, and you can use it as a foundation for a full-blown cooked marinara or it would be great tossed with pasta, olive oil, and fresh basil, or spread onto crusty bread and drizzled with olive oil.