I have a question about using tomato paste in sauces. For some reason I have always slightly sauteed the paste in a small amount of olive oil before adding to sauces. I read, years ago, that this should be done to intensify it’s flavor.
For some reason I think the paste by itself is intensified enough, does sauteing it have any other benefits?
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If you are using cast iron the acid from the tomatoes supposedly will leach out iron from it which is beneficial for health.
That brings up another thing I have been told - do not use cast iron for making tomato sauces they can cause ‘pitting’ and oxidation. True?
I made the mistake once of putting some tomato paste or sauce in a cheap metal pan. I don’t know what type of metal it was but the acid in the tomato took the many years of grunge off it and everywhere the sauce touched it was shiny metal. Threw that thing out, pronto!