Tomato paste is a thick paste that is made b cooking tomatoes for several hours straining them to remove the seeds and skin, and cooking them again to reduce them to a think, rich concentrate.

In contrast, tomato puree is consistency between crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. And consists of tomatoes that have been boiled briefly and strained.

It was traditional made in parts of Sicilia, south Italy and Malta by spreading out a much-reduced tomato sauce on wooden boards. The boards are set out doors under the hat August sun to dry the paste until it is ready enough, when scraped up, to hold together in a richly colored, dark ball. Toda, this artisan products harder to find than the industrial version. Commercial production users tomatoes with thick pericarp walls and lower overall moisture, these are very different from the tomatoes will find in a supermarket.