roasted tomato passata

I must share with you my latest kitchen staple, a roasted tomato passata that is so rich and delicious and versatile.

For a long time I haven't bought tomato paste but I've been thinking recently that, surely, there must be an alternative to canned tomatoes though so many of my recipe call for them.The canned tomatoes, however organic, contain preservatives.

Since I began ordering our weekly produce through Lettuce Deliver (which I calculated at being on a par - if not cheaper, at times) than a supermarket buy which included only some organics) I realised that there's a healthy and cheap way to make my own passata.

I don't know about other organics companies but Lettuce Deliver has a weekly special on organic cooking tomatoes. I can get a kilo for $3.50. Some of them arrived a bit bruised or misshapen but I usually only have to cut out a miniscule amount of flesh from one or two tomatoes.

Here's how I make roasted tomato passata:

This recipe makes 2 litres. 

Preheat the oven to 200ºc. 

Including the stalks, chop half a bunch of organic parsley and place this in a large baking tray. Quarter 2 kilograms of medium sized organic tomatoes and scatter them in to the tray.

Add 1 large red onion and 8 cloves of garlic (more or less to taste), a generous sprinkle of sea salt and a very generous layer of freshly ground black pepper. Liberally cover the tomatoes with olive oil and bake for an hour. I like my tomatoes to caramelise at the edges (you know that sticky, sugary goodness that comes from the slightly overcooked fruit?) so I leave them in until they are done but not burned.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for ten minutes to avoid being burned when you transfer in to the food processor. Carefully tip the contents of the baking tray in to a food processor and blend until you have achieved a desired consistency.

If you, like me, use a Thermomix I used /TURBO/10-15 seconds.

I mentioned versatlity.....

I use passata on pizzas, as a sauce for pasta on it's own or mixed with additional veggies and meat for a sauce. I use my passata in any recipe that calls for a tin of tomatoes or tomato paste - curries, nachos, the list goes on. This freezes very well and I freeze it in portions (large for pasta, small for pizzas).

Can you think of other alternatives for passata?

Today I tried a new Ottoleghi recipe which included my passata. I'll post the results soon.



This post is NOT sponsored by Lettuce Organics.

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For my other Thermomix recipes:
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/search/tmrc_solr_recipe/miss%20may?filters=type%3Arecipes

Easter

What a stunning day today here on the Far South Coast. 

We started our morning at sunrise (a reasonable 0630) with an Easter egg hunt. Fortunately the Easter Bilby left a map! 

Our second Easter egg hunt was with friends I met when we were 4 at playgroup - and now our kids love playing together! 

Was a great gathering of food, extended family & conversation. There's nothing better. 

We stopped off at the river to show the kids where J and I used to swim as children. 

Were heading back to Sydney soon. Will be a shock to the system. Our kids have run free for the past week down here - playing with mud, sticks, grass, riding the quad bike and exploring. *sigh* 

the case of the missing golf balls

I'm relaxing in the shed and I can hear our kids' voices echoing through the paddocks. They've been commenting since the sun rose how much they love staying at the farm. 

Me: "What's your favourite thing to do at the farm?" 

The unanimous response "ride the quad bike."

Today they're on a mission. During our last visit to the farm J had hit a dozen, or so, golf balls down the paddock only to discover, the following morning, that they had disappeared. 

A clue to their whereabouts was seen this morning during breakfast. A sneaky raven swooped down and made off with one in its beak and then returned to survey the remaining golf balls. 

B (5yo) decided it was time to devise a plan and he thoughtfully considered the options. 

a) Guard the balls.  

b) Find where the raven went or, 

c) Watch and wait for the raven's return and watch to see where he flew off to. 

He decided to go with c) and I suggested he might like to draw his plan so that, when the expedition to find the golf balls took place, everyone would know what to do. 

Here's what he came up with. 

1. B, P and J follow the raven on the quad bike. 

"We only have one problem. We can't fly but the raven can. I know - we just have to keep up with him."

2. Find the tree where the raven lives. 

3. Send Daddy climbing up the tree. 

4. Get Daddy to retrieve the golf balls from the nest.

An hour has passed and I can hear the quad bike coming back up through the paddocks now. My guess is the original plan may not have come to fruition but it will be interesting to hear what they have been up to. 

foraging on the farm

We're spending some time (out) on the farm this week.

I've brought everything we need in terms of food (four crates worth) so we won't need to head in to town unless we really want to. 

We decided, after the last trip, that on this visit to the farm we'd make a sourdough starter that way it would be fed from beautiful fresh, coastal air instead of smoggy polution-filled Sydney air. I'm using the River Cottage Australia method (since we're in River Cottage country down here). We've got a week here so hopefully long enough to get it started. You can follow it's progress on my facebook page.

This morning J and the kids went out in the paddocks to see of there were any blackberries. They came back with a (child's) handful each of blackberries and wild figs. They also brought back nettles and some beautiful big mushrooms! 

Lunch today - homemade pizzas with mushrooms, blanched (could have been for longer - we had a couple of little tickles!) nettle, haloumi & organic tomato. 

I love a helper in the kitchen! 

We still have a bucket full of nettle so I've made pasta for dinner and we'll have fresh nettle pasta. 

Have you ever cooked with nettle? I'd be interested to hear how you've used it in the kitchen! 

You can read more about eating weeds here: 

http://realfoodoutlaws.com/5-healthiest-backyard-weeds/

funny food faces

Inspired by Homemade Healthy Happy's Mexican mushroom stacks last night I decided to incorporate a simpler version (I had even less time than Sarah) into our dinner faces for the kids tonight.

My first memory of the squeaky cheese, haloumi, was when I was studying at university and working in a cafe in Belconnen, Canberra. While we only had three staff I loved the little cafe. First up, of a morning, we'd prepare dozens of sandwiches and drive to the offices on streets near The Mint where we'd sell the sandwiches from cane baskets for public servants' lunches. Interestingly haloumi was included in the vego sandwiches, uncooked. It was delicious and salty but I'm pleased to have discovered the pan-fried version!

Years on and I'll always think of the Wildberry Cafe and my regular customers - in their offices and at the cafe, when I cook haloumi. 

Firstly I fried off some organic garlic and organic onion with a little olive oil. I added the mushrooms and cooked for about four minutes, flipping them after about two minutes. I added a tablespoon of water to the pan after frying (mushies suck up moisture and I found there was no oil left in the pan). I cooked the haloumi around the mushrooms and when it was brown on both sides I moved the contents of the pan off the heat.

The rest of the face is self explanatory but as simple as this idea is our kids always find this presentation of food appealing!

Miss May Blossom http://www.facebook.com/MissMayBlossom