Gardening Tips, Informative
What to do with those tomatoes? – Recipe Ideas
Our top tomato recipes will give you some inspiration for using up those juicy toms you have been growing. Too many tomatoes? No such thing! You’ve done the hard work: growing, harvesting and storing your tomatoes, and now it’s time to enjoy! The best thing about a bumper crop of tomatoes is that it can form the base for your whole meal, or just a delicious flourish. These recipes are perfectly easy if you are new to cooking, which is the beauty of the versatile tomato.
This delicious tomato chutney will last for around 6 weeks in a sealed jar in the fridge.
Homemade Tomato Chutney
- 1kg of ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 500g of red onions
- 1 red chilli
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 250g of brown sugar
- 150g of red wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Put all the ingredients into a large, deep saucepan and stir well.
- Simmer for 1hr, stirring frequently until the mixture gets thick and shiny.
- Leave to cool completely.
- Sterilise your jam jars by washing in warm soapy water and drying in the oven at 140C.
- Alternatively run them through the dishwasher.
- Pour in your cooled jam, seal and put in the fridge.
- Help yourself to a spoonful or two with a plate full of cheese and biscuits….yum!
Classic Tomato Passata
Out of all the tomato recipes, this one is a cooking staple! Perfect for a pizza topping or pasta sauce.
- 5kg ripe red tomatoes, washed, halved
- 500g onions, chopped
- 1 garlic bulb, cloves separated, peeled, bruised
- 1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil
- 1 bunch basil, leaves torn
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease 2 baking trays and line with baking paper.
- Spread tomatoes, onion and garlic evenly across prepared trays, then season with 1 tbs salt flakes and 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper. Divide oil evenly between trays and toss to combine.
- Roast, swapping trays halfway, for 45 minutes or until tomatoes are blistered and onion has softened. Set aside to cool for 30 minutes, then stir through basil.
- Whizz together with a hand blender, or pass through a sieve for an extra smooth finish.
- Enjoy immediately, or leave to cool and freeze in a freezer bag. Defrost and enjoy within the next 6 months.
Spicy Tomato Salsa
This dish is sure to put a smile on the faces of your dinner party guests… now where are the tortilla chips?
- 4-6 medium tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
- ½ red onion, very finely chopped
- 1 small garlic clove, chopped
- small splash of white wine vinegar
- ½ lime, juiced
- ½ bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
- Chilli flakes or half a small red chilli, finely chopped
Method
- Combine all ingredients well and add chilli to taste. Place in the fridge until needed, we recommend letting this infuse for at least a couple of hours.
Tomato & Goats Cheese Tart
The perfect summer dish accompanied by a balsamic side salad (with more tomatoes!)
- 725g ripe plum tomatoes, or any other ripe medium-sized tomato
- 150g soft goats’ cheese
- 4 level teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, plus a few small sprigs
- 375g (1 roll) of fresh, ready-rolled puff pastry
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 190°C. Unroll the puff pastry and place on a baking tray.
- Tip the goats’ cheese into a small bowl, add the crushed garlic, chopped thyme and a good seasoning of salt and black pepper.
- Give it a good mix and, using a small palette or other round-bladed knife, carefully spread the cheese mixture evenly all over the surface of the pastry.
- Next, thinly slice all the tomatoes and arrange them on top of the goats’ cheese in overlapping lines lengthways; overlap one line one way and the one next to it the other way.
- After that, season the tomatoes and then drizzle the olive oil and scatter the sprigs of thyme all over them.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven on the middle shelf for 55 minutes or until the pastry is golden-brown and the tomatoes are roasted and slightly charred at the edges.
Basic Vegetarian Curry
Packed with warmth and flavour, this spicy tomato recipe is the perfect place to show off your tasty toms.
- 900g large tomatoes
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 thinly sliced garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp grated ginger
- 1 thinly sliced onion
- 1 deseeded and chopped red chilli
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp tomato purée
- 100ml hot water
Method
- Cover the large tomatoes with boiling water in a bowl for 3 minutes. Drain, cover with cold water, then peel off the skins. Finely chop half the tomatoes and cut the remainder into wedges.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan. Add the thinly sliced garlic cloves and grated ginger. Fry for a minute then add the sliced onion and deseeded and chopped red chilli. Fry gently for 6 minutes until soft but not browned.
- Stir in the paprika, turmeric, ground cumin and ground coriander and fry for 2 minutes.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, reserving the wedges, tomato purée and 100ml hot water.
- Simmer for 10-15 minutes on a medium heat until thickened – add a little extra water if it’s too dry. Add the tomato wedges, season and simmer for 5 minutes until the wedges are soft but still holding their shape.
- Serve with rice and a sprinkling of fresh coriander!
Article by Westland/ Garden Health.
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