Name: Paradajz u flaši
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 3 h 20 min
Yield: 2500 ml chilled tomato base
Cuisine: Serbian cuisine
Ingredients: 3000 g ripe tomatoes, washed, cored and roughly chopped; 250 g red sweet pepper, washed, seeded and chopped; 30 g flat-leaf parsley, washed and chopped; 20 g celery leaves, washed and chopped; 15 g fine salt

Yield 2500 ml chilled tomato base

Preparation 35 minutes

Cooking 25 minutes

Passive 140 minutes

Ingredients ↓

Overview

Refrigerated Paradajz u Flaši Tomato Base

Paradajz u flaši is a Serbian household way of putting seasonal tomato into a convenient liquid form for later soups, stews and sauces. Older home methods vary widely: some are raw, some cooked, some add peppers and herbs, and some rely on preservatives or bottle-handling practices that do not supply a complete modern safety process. Because those methods cannot simply be blended together, this recipe chooses one clear path: cook the tomato base, cool it promptly and keep it refrigerated or frozen.

Ripe tomatoes are the main ingredient, with a smaller amount of red sweet pepper plus parsley and celery leaves. The vegetables are washed under running water before trimming. Tomatoes and pepper are crushed to a coarse pulp rather than strained clear, so the finished liquid keeps some body. A twenty-minute simmer cooks the raw vegetable flavour and evaporates part of the water; herbs and salt enter only for the final five minutes so they remain recognisable without tasting raw.

Cooling is not an afterthought. A deep pot of hot tomato can remain warm in the centre for a long time, which is why the cooked base is divided into shallow heatproof containers. After twenty minutes of initial cooling, those containers go into the refrigerator and remain there for two hours, until the mixture is cold throughout at 4 °C or below. Only then is it transferred into clean bottles or jars. In this method, the bottle is a convenient cold-storage container, not the step that makes the contents safe.

The finished base is useful because it is deliberately neutral. It has enough salt to taste seasoned and enough pepper and herbs to signal the domestic style, but no sugar, vinegar or strong spice that would lock it into one later dish. Shake or stir before measuring because tomato solids can settle after chilling. Natural separation is not itself spoilage; off odours, visible mould, gas, leakage or prolonged warm holding are reasons to discard the product.

Keep the chilled bottles at 4 °C or below and use them within 3–4 days. For longer storage, freeze portions in containers that leave room for expansion and thaw them in the refrigerator. This short cold-storage design is intentionally different from a tested acidified tomato-preservation procedure, which requires its own exact container, acidification, processing and elevation controls rather than approximation.

Practical

ControlThis is intentionally a cooked, chilled preparation; a sealed bottle is only a storage container, not a safety process.
ControlUse shallow containers during cooling so the centre of the batch loses heat quickly.
ControlKeep the herb level modest so the preparation remains a versatile tomato base for soups and cooked dishes.

Ingredients

Tomato base

3000 g ripe tomatoes, washed, cored and roughly chopped
250 g red sweet pepper, washed, seeded and chopped
30 g flat-leaf parsley, washed and chopped
20 g celery leaves, washed and chopped
15 g fine salt

Directions

Cook the tomato base

Wash and trim the produceRinse the 3000 g tomatoes, 250 g pepper, 30 g parsley and 20 g celery leaves under running water; remove damaged parts, tomato cores and pepper seeds. Only sound, clean produce should remain before chopping or grinding.
Crush the tomatoes and pepperChop or pulse the tomatoes and pepper to a coarse pourable pulp, keeping all measured produce in the preparation. The mixture should pour easily while retaining fine vegetable pulp rather than becoming a smooth strained juice.
Cook the tomato pulpBring the tomato-pepper mixture to a full simmer, then reduce the heat and cook while stirring regularly. The cooked base is ready for seasoning when the foam subsides, the pulp smells cooked rather than raw and the mixture has thickened slightly.
Season and finish cookingStir in 15 g salt, 30 g parsley and 20 g celery leaves and continue simmering. The herbs should be evenly distributed and wilted into the tomato without scorching on the pot base.

Cool, chill and bottle

Cool in shallow containersDivide the hot tomato base among clean shallow heatproof containers and cool briefly so trapped steam can escape efficiently. The surface should stop steaming vigorously before the containers go into the refrigerator.
Refrigerate the tomato basePlace the shallow containers in the refrigerator and chill at 4 °C or below. The base is ready to bottle when it is cold throughout rather than merely cool at the surface.
Bottle the chilled tomatoTransfer the cold base into clean bottles or jars with clean lids, label it for cold use, close securely and move the containers straight back into cold storage. The filled containers should be clean, cold and securely closed without any claim that the closure itself makes the contents safe.

Practical

How to use it

Measure the chilled tomato base into soups, stews, beans or sauces that will be cooked again. Stir or shake before measuring if the pulp has settled.

Cooling discipline

After simmering, divide the batch into shallow containers; do not leave the full pot to cool on the counter. Refrigerate within 2 hours and keep at 4 °C or below.

Storage

Use refrigerated portions within 3–4 days. Freeze anything not needed in that period, thaw in the refrigerator, and discard material that has remained warm beyond the safe holding window.

Control points

Centre of the batch stays warm for too longGuidance: The cooked tomato was left in one deep pot to cool.Adjustment: Divide it promptly among shallow containers before refrigeration.
Base separates after chillingGuidance: Tomato solids and juice naturally settle.Adjustment: Shake or stir the cold container before measuring it into a cooked dish; separation alone is not a spoilage sign.

Nutrition

Serving size250 ml
Calories80 kcal
Carbohydrates16 g
Protein4 g
Fat1 g
Fibre5 g
Sodium600 mg

These figures are approximate and vary with ingredient brands, edible yield, moisture loss, trimming, absorption and portion size.

Allergens and food safety

No major allergen is inherent in the listed ingredients. Rinse all produce under running water before cutting. After cooking, divide the tomato into shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours at 4 °C or below. Keep the finished preparation refrigerated or frozen; the recipe does not rely on a sealed lid, preservative powder or warm holding for safety.

FAQ

Does a sealed bottle make this safe to keep unrefrigerated?

No. The bottle is only a clean container for a fully chilled product. This formula depends on refrigeration or freezing.

Why not copy an old no-cook method?

Raw-preserved and chemically preserved formulas require their own validated safety basis. Cooking, rapid cooling and cold storage avoid that uncertainty.

Result: This cooked paradajz u flaši keeps the familiar tomato, pepper and herb profile but is cooled rapidly and stored only in the refrigerator or freezer, not by bottle closure alone.

Key: This is intentionally a cooked, chilled preparation; a sealed bottle is only a storage container, not a safety process.