Is passata the same as tomato sauce?

I stood in the tomato aisle for ages yesterday looking for tomato sauce.  There wasn't any.  But then I noticed Passata.  I brought it home and it worked okay, but doesn't look exactly the same - a little thicker than the stuff I was used to in the US.  I have a super quick salsa recipe that uses Hunt's tomato sauce, but I don't think passata will do the trick in that one.  My Waitrose usually carries almost everything, but not tomato sauce.

Passata is a little bit thicker than tomato sauce.  If it's going to cause problems in your salsa, you could always add a little bit of tomato juice or another liquid until it's got the right consistency.  (I've had some great salsas that contained a little dark beer, for example)

I consider passata to be the same as tomato puree, which is thicker than tomato sauce. You can also dilute it with some water. Passata, puree, crushed, etc., it's all essentially the same thing, liquefied tomatoes, just different consistencies.

FYI, in some parts of the UK, if you ask for tomato sauce you will be shown ketchup.

I consider passata to be the same as tomato puree

Tomato purée is sometimes referred to by its Italian name, passata di pomodoro, when it has been "passed" through a sieve to remove seeds and lumps.

Hehe...I just picked this passata stuff up, thinking I could've used it for sloppy joes. (Traditionally I always used the Hunts canned stuff, which looked about similar consistency.) I chickened out at the last minute and used the ol' go-to of ketchup, though. If anyone has a good recipe idea for passata...

I always used passata in place of tomato sauce with no issues. It was a staple for my pasta sauces.

I've always used passata in place of tomato sauce or doctored it up and used it as sauce.

It's a little OT, but since you brought up sloppy joes, I thought I'd share a recipe.

I am a youth leader for our local church group.  At a recent activity, the kids decided it would be fun to have a more American-style night, so they planned a line dancing night and had us teach them some line dances.  We decided to make some more American food to go with it and as the resident American, I ended up making all the food.  I found this yummy recipe for sloppy joes; then we had root beer floats (or ice cream if they didn't like root beer).  It was a really good recipe, so I thought I'd pass it on:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/sloppy_joes/

I use passatta as a base for any tomato-sauce based dinner I'm having, ie meatballs, spagbol, etc.  It works great as a pizza sauce as well.

I found that while it takes a bit longer to make a marinara, than say, opening a jar of ragu, for some reason Ragu doesn't taste here quite the way it does in the states.  Not sure why, but it's awfully sweet here.

Ragu doesn't taste here quite the way it does in the states.  Not sure why, but it's awfully sweet here.

I've noticed that too.

For a meat sauce I use passata, but I think crushed tomatoes work better in a marinara. It's all a matter of one's preference though.

Hehe...I just picked this passata stuff up, thinking I could've used it for sloppy joes. (Traditionally I always used the Hunts canned stuff, which looked about similar consistency.) I chickened out at the last minute and used the ol' go-to of ketchup, though. If anyone has a good recipe idea for passata...

You can use passata when making your own tomato / bolognaise sauce.  It's a quick & easy step in the process.