{"id":3838,"date":"2026-09-28T12:09:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T12:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/?p=3838"},"modified":"2026-09-28T12:09:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T12:09:46","slug":"giant-italian-paste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/giant-italian-paste\/","title":{"rendered":"Giant Italian Paste Tomato Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-auto kksr-align-left kksr-valign-top\"\n    data-payload='{&quot;align&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;3838&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;default&quot;,&quot;valign&quot;:&quot;top&quot;,&quot;ignore&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;reference&quot;:&quot;auto&quot;,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;count&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;legendonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;readonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;starsonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;best&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;gap&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;greet&quot;:&quot;Share your rating&quot;,&quot;legend&quot;:&quot;0\\\/5 - (0 votes)&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;24&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Giant Italian Paste Tomato Review&quot;,&quot;width&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;_legend&quot;:&quot;{score}\\\/{best} - ({count} {votes})&quot;,&quot;font_factor&quot;:&quot;1.25&quot;}'>\n            \n<div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 0px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n                \n\n<div class=\"kksr-legend\" style=\"font-size: 19.2px;\">\n            <span class=\"kksr-muted\">Share your rating<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"tldr-box\" style=\"background: #f4f9f4; padding: 20px; border-left: 5px solid #4CAF50; margin-bottom: 30px; border-radius: 4px;\">\n<h3>\ud83d\udccc Quick Summary (TL;DR): Giant Italian Paste<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\ud83c\udf0d <strong>Origin:<\/strong> A classic Italian heirloom paste variety. Very popular among European and Russian seed collectors (like V. Popenko) for its processing qualities.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83c\udf3f <strong>Plant Habit:<\/strong> Indeterminate. Can grow exceptionally tall, with some growers reporting vines reaching 10 ft (3 m) in a greenhouse. Like many heart-shaped or large paste tomatoes, it has a &#8220;weeping&#8221; or spindly foliage habit with long, thin, frail-looking branches.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83c\udf45 <strong>Fruit Characteristics:<\/strong> Large, elongated plum\/paste tomatoes. They turn a deep red when ripe and usually weigh between 5.3 and 10.5 oz (150-300 g).<\/li>\n<li>\ud83d\udc45 <strong>Flavor &amp; Use:<\/strong> This is a dedicated processing tomato. The flesh is very dense, meaty, and high in dry matter (high solids) with very little juice or gel. While it can taste somewhat dry or bland if eaten fresh, it is absolutely top-tier for making thick sauces, ketchup, paste, or sun-dried tomatoes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"add-review-cta\" style=\"margin: 20px 0; padding: 15px; background: #f9f9f9; border-left: 4px solid #4CAF50; border-radius: 4px;\"><strong>\ud83c\udf45 Grown this variety?<\/strong> <a href=\"#wpdcom\">Click here to add your own photos and review below!<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">O<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Ovechka (Lyudmila) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (13,966 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Russia<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>Seeds were from V. Popenko. His description: &#8220;Giant Italian Paste, Italy. Plum-shaped fruits, red, good flavor, weighing up to 10.5 oz (300 g).&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>I grew it in the greenhouse. Pruned it to 2 main stems. As of July 14, there were 12 fruits. 1st truss &#8211; 10 fruits, 2nd truss &#8211; 2 fruits. Fruit weight was around 5.3-7 oz (150-200 g). It was such a funny-looking plant, it had these super long, skinny, paw-like branches. The taste is sweet, the fruits are on the dry side\u2014what they call having a high dry matter content.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-images\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/12\/66-040414045519.jpeg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/12\/thumb_66-040414045519.jpeg\" alt=\"Seedling of Giant Italian Paste tomato\" width=\"160\" height=\"110\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/36\/66-101014121728.jpeg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/36\/thumb_66-101014121728.jpeg\" alt=\"Skinny branches of the paste tomato plant\" width=\"89\" height=\"160\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/30\/66-120814151857.jpeg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/30\/thumb_66-120814151857.jpeg\" alt=\"Red elongated Italian paste tomatoes\" width=\"160\" height=\"89\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">J<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Janichka (Alena) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (2,342 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Unknown Location<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>What are your overall impressions of this tomato? Was it productive? Is it worth repeating?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">O<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Ovechka (Lyudmila) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (13,966 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Russia<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>I don&#8217;t know \ud83d\ude15. Looking around for reviews on the forum&#8230; Found one from Katrinka:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Giant Italian Paste &#8211; didn&#8217;t impress me at all&#8230; Somewhat hollow inside, tasteless, low yield for me&#8230;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/80\/591-030815072621.jpeg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/80\/thumb_591-030815072621.jpeg\" alt=\"Harvested Giant Italian Paste tomatoes\" width=\"120\" height=\"160\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">O<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Oksana-pepper (Oksana) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (11,063 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Unknown Location<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>A gorgeous, favorite variety. It gets a permanent spot in my grow list forever.<\/p>\n<p>The plant was 10 ft (3 meters) tall. Set trusses perfectly. The tomatoes are on the dry side inside, which makes them absolutely ideal for making tomato paste, sauces, ketchup, and for sun-drying.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"editor-note\" style=\"background: #eef7ff; padding: 15px; border-left: 4px solid #2196F3; margin-top: 25px; font-size: 1.1em; border-radius: 4px;\"><strong>\ud83d\udc68\u200d\ud83c\udf3e Editor&#8217;s Note on Slicers vs. Paste Tomatoes:<\/strong><br \/>\nNotice the completely opposite reviews here! Katrinka says the tomato was <em>&#8220;hollow inside and tasteless,&#8221;<\/em> while Oksana calls it a <em>&#8220;gorgeous favorite&#8221;<\/em> that she will grow forever. Why the massive difference? It all comes down to what you expect a tomato to do!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Giant Italian Paste<\/strong> is bred specifically for processing. Real paste\/sauce tomatoes (like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/san-marzano-tomato-review\/\">San Marzano<\/a> or Opalka) are genetically designed to have very little gel, low water content, high dry matter (pectin\/solids), and yes\u2014sometimes semi-hollow cavities. If you slice one open and eat it raw in a salad, it will often taste mealy, dry, and bland. But if you roast it, boil it down into a thick marinara, or put it in a dehydrator? That &#8220;bland&#8221; dry flesh transforms into the richest, sweetest, most intense tomato flavor imaginable!<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ud83d\udccc Quick Summary (TL;DR): Giant Italian Paste \ud83c\udf0d Origin: A classic Italian heirloom paste variety. Very popular among European and Russian seed collectors (like V. Popenko) for its processing qualities. \ud83c\udf3f Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Can grow exceptionally tall, with some growers reporting vines reaching 10 ft (3 m) in a greenhouse. Like many heart-shaped or &#8230; <a title=\"Giant Italian Paste Tomato Review\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/giant-italian-paste\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Giant Italian Paste Tomato Review\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[162,94,4,438],"tags":[56,72,983,87],"class_list":["post-3838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plum-tomatoes","category-heirloom-other","category-paste-canning","category-red-tomatoes","tag-canning-tomato","tag-greenhouse-tomato","tag-spindly-foliage","tag-sun-dried-tomatoes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3838"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3840,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3838\/revisions\/3840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}