Hint: Freeze Tomato Paste in Recipe-Sized Portions

Tomato paste provides a rich base of umami flavor and healthful nutrients to many dishes. Heated with oil at the start of a sauté, it imparts color and flavor to the pan sauce or soup.The usual dish calls for a tablespoon or two, leaving the problem of how to store the remainder of the can's contents. To handle that problem, we divide the contents into 1 ounce (~30 gram) portions, using a #30 disher ('ice cream scoop'). This size scoop is called a '#30 disher' because it was designed to dish out 30 scoops from a quart of ice cream. They are available online for a few dollars. Each scoop of tomato paste is deposited into the corner of a Z-fold plastic sandwich bag, twisted closed, and individually frozen, then bagged. When needed, just the right amount of tomato paste, easily pops from its bag, ready for cooking. It thaws quickly, as the pan heats.