The Abbattista tomato is a large, heirloom, indeterminate paste variety known for its meaty texture, few seeds, and sweet, rich flavor, making it ideal for sauces, pastes, and coulis.
Key Characteristics
Type: Indeterminate (vining growth requiring support), regular leaf foliage.
Fruit: Large, red, elongated, plum-shaped fruit that can reach 200-400 grams (7-14 ounces). They often have a pointed nipple at the blossom end.
Flesh: Dense and "dry" with minimal gel and seeds, a key characteristic for a paste tomato.
Flavor: Sweet and rich, which deepens when cooked down into sauces and pastes.
Harvest: A mid-to-late-season variety, typically ready for harvest around 80-85 days after transplanting, and continues producing until the first frost.
Origin: An Ohio heirloom brought to the United States from Italy by the Abbattista family's ancestors (originally by an immigrant named Julia Pentz) before being passed to a seed saver named Bill Roemer in the 1980s. It is also known as 'Roemer's Romas'.
