Tasty Tomatoes
As the summer months draw to a close, the glut of tomatoes is in full flow. After weeks of sunshine and the occasional bit of rain, the tomatoes are at their best. They come in all shapes and sizes, in brilliant reds, yellows, orange, green and a darker hue, called black but really a red/black colour, spilling from baskets on countless stalls. The smell of ripe juicy and tasty tomatoes fills the air as you wander around the market stalls. I always buy too many as I love tomatoes. Large bunches of highly fragrant basil sit alongside just asking to be popped into the basket too, and mixed with the tomatoes for a wonderful salad, perhaps with a little mozzarella or feta to add some saltiness, a drizzle of olive oil, maybe some balsamic vinegar…. A recent lunch out saw me choosing a tomato and mozzarella salad – and what a salad it was, with just these ingredients.
I have been in tomato heaven of late. Having been lucky enough to have enjoyed lots of delicious cherry tomatoes from the potager, a few weeks ago I noticed crates of tomatoes for sale at the market. One of my favourite stalls, a local organic farm, was selling plum tomatoes in bulk at such a good price. Well I couldn’t resist so added that to our purchases one Saturday morning. Aside from enjoying these tomatoes fresh in salads over the ensuing days, I also tried my hand at a tomato pasta sauce with basil and an oven roasted tomato soup, both destined for the freezer so that we can enjoy a taste of summer when it is cold and wintry outside. One portion of the pasta sauce was used for supper that day, a now tried and tested recipe from a wonderful book that I have just finished reading.
Another local farm advertised crates of tomatoes for making sauces at an even better price than my previous purchase, so I ordered some more. 15kg to be precise! The temptation was too great and the thought of lots more chutneys, pasta sauces and soups was irresistible. I ordered extra basil and duly collected my crates of mixed tomatoes from the farm at the appointed time, driving in past rows of tomato plants, still laden with the red jewels. One of the crates was of large tomatoes as I wanted to make some stuffed tomatoes and of course have enough tomatoes for us to eat during the weeks to come. The car smelt heavenly on the way home, a heady mixture of basil, parsley and tomato, which filled me with enthusiasm for the tasks ahead.
These tomatoes were eaten fresh, turned into tomato chutney, one with basil, one with mustard seeds. I made a further batches of oven roasted tomato soup, with sage, with rosemary for variety and with mixed herbs. A huge pot of pasta sauce bubbled away on the stove, waiting for the addition of basil and garlic, then once cooled to be frozen for future use. The colours were all so wonderful, the aroma from the cooking fabulous and the salads of sliced tomato so delicious. Tomatoes are also extremely good for you, rich in vitamins, a great source of potassium and the antioxidant lycopene and they have the benefit of being tasty too.
This month there are several recipes that I thought about sharing with you. The stuffed tomatoes were delicious to eat but not pretty to look at, so I have ruled that recipe out until I have refined it. I think there is just so much juice in these tomatoes that they were drowning in their juices by the end of cooking. Ah well – a tasty disaster.
The tomato and basil chutney is fabulous but I have shared many a chutney recipe, so I have chosen the tomato sauce recipe that I found in the book ‘From Scratch’ by Tembi Locke, a beautifully written true account of love and loss and dealing with grief. I thoroughly recommend reading this book, and enjoying the recipes at the end. There is also a Netflix series of the same name which is well worth watching. The recipe is a traditional Sicilian recipe for tomato sauce and is delicious, much loved by the author and often cooked by her husband and mother-in-law.
Classic Tomato Sauce (recipe taken from ‘From Scratch’, Tembi Locke)
Ingredients
1.5kg fresh tomatoes, skinned and chopped (the recipe says San Marzano tomatoes. I used plum tomatoes and then a mix of varieties. You can also use tinned tomatoes)
2 large red onions, coarsely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Large bunch of basil
1 tablespoon sea salt, or to taste
1 tablespoon sugar (I don’t add this)
Method
Combine the chopped tomatoes and ½ cup of water in a large saucepan. Add half the chopped onion and 2 cloves of garlic. Bring to the boil and simmer covered, for about 40 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid the tomatoes sticking to the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat. Put the cooked mixture in a food processor and blend until it becomes a puree.
In a food processor combine the basil, olive oil, and the remaining onion and garlic. Puree until smooth.
In a clean saucepan combine both the tomato and basil purees. Cook over a medium heat, uncovered, until it thickens, 20 -30 minutes. You can cook for longer if you want to thicken it further to make a loose paste for pizzas, etc. Remove from the heat, season with salt and the sugar (if using). Put in sterilised jars or freezer containers and leave to cool. The sauce will keep in a sterilised jar in the fridge for 3-4 days, or freeze batches once cooled for use later.
Do let me know how you get on and if you read the book or watch the series, let me know what you think.
Ali xx