Tomayto, tomato!
How good is home grown produce?!!! It's so pleasing for me to go out and water my little veggie garden everyday and see one or two little strawberries and raspberries starting to grow. My husbands side of the patch on the other hand, not known for his humble ways, has a proverbial tomato mountain growing in it! His 6 tomato plants have grown to such an excess that have merged into one super plant. Yesterday I harvested 3kg of tomberry tomatoes (slightly larger than a cherry tomato) for the visual learners that's two of these giant bowls!!
So what do you do when you have this many tomatoes and only two people? Well.....
First you make Tomato Chilli Jam
Ingredients:
400g tomatoes, chopped
1 brown onion, finely chopped
5 small green chilies, finely chopped
Tbs macadamia/almond oil
2 Tbs rice malt syrup
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 Tbs fish sauce
Method:
1. Heat oil in pan and cook onion and chili for five mins.
2. Add remaining ingredients and bring to the boil.
3. Allow to simmer on low heat until mixture has thickened and reduced to a jammy consistency.
4. Bottle in a sterilised glass jar and store in the fridge for 1 month (if it lasts that long)
Next you make the most amazing Chickpea Soup that you have ever tasted!!
Ingredients:
Tbs olive oil
Small red onion, finely chopped
Tsp minced garlic
400g tomatoes, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 red capsicum, finely chopped
1 large zucchini, diced
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3/4 cup tomato paste
400g can chickpeas, drained
Salt and pepper
Method:
1. Heat oil in pan and cook carrot, onion, celery tomatoes and garlic for five minutes, stir regularly.
2. Add tomato paste and stock and bring to boil. Simmer for 20 minutes covered, over a low heat.
3. Add zucchini, capsicum and chickpeas and simmer for further 15 mins.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve!
Finally you make a tangy and fresh sugar free Tomato Sauce (I'm not talking pasta sauce, I mean the usually nasty bottled kind that has been missing from your healthy burgers for far too long!)
Ingredients:
440g tomatoes, chopped
1/2 brown onion, finely diced
80ml Apple cider vinegar
Tbs rice malt syrup
Tsp allspice
Tsp cinnamon
Tsp paprika
Method:
1. Whack it all in a slow cooker and cook on high for 3 hours (or low overnight).
2. Use a stick mixer or blender to blitz into a sauce! If it is too runny you can leave it in the cooker on high for another half hour with the lid off.
3. Bottle in a sterilized jar and store in the fridge for a month! This sauce also freezes well.
N.B You can also do this recipe in a saucepan simmering over a low heat and then blitz into a sauce and return to the pan to reduce and thicken.
There you have it guys! 3 ways to utilise an excess of tomatoes or simply just enjoy some home made tomato inspired creations!
xx
