What a Luxury to Have Some Fresh Tomato Flavor in the Winter!
“A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins.” American writer, Laurie Colwin, said this as a way to emphasize how much she loved tomatoes. Would you agree?
I sure love ‘em. They’ve done well in our garden this year and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed fresh tomatoes all sorts of ways, all through the summer.
One of our favorite ways to eat the really big ones is to hollow them out and stuff them. Tuna, crab, and egg salad do well as tomato stuffings. And a tasty vegetarian stuffing is to mix chopped fresh veggies with grated cheese and cottage cheese. These transport well so they make a nice addition to a picnic or potluck gathering.
Another thing we’ve done with them this year is to roast them and serve them with streamed cauliflower, broccoli, and summer squash. Sometimes we’d puree these roasted tomatoes with roasted bell peppers and make a fast soup. And I’ve discovered that pureed roasted tomatoes make a delicious salad dressing base. When you add just a smidge of ranch dressing (maybe one or two teaspoons, depending on how much puree you have), you have a creamy dressing minus all the fat the Ranch dressing offers.
Roasted are also delicious in corn or potato chowder. Really, they’ll go in just about anything. And the advantage to roasting them is how their lycopene becomes more easily accessible. You’ll get a little of this powerful antioxidant in fresh tomatoes, but when those tomatoes are cooked, the lycopene score almost explodes.
Lastly, if you are lucky enough to have an abundance of fresh tomatoes, consider roasting and pureeing all of them and freezing it. Perhaps diving your puree into pint or quart jars (leaving at least 12-inch of headspace to allow for expansion). This way you’ll have fresh roasted tomato puree to get you all through the winter. What a luxury to have some fresh tomato flavor in the winter.
I’ll close with Ina Garten’s favorite recipe for an easy, roasted tomato and basil soup. With fall and winter coming, can we have too many soup recipes? This could become a favorite!
Ina's Tomato Basil Soup
3 pounds ripe Italian plum tomatoes cut in half lengthwise
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshlly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped yellow onions
6 cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (28-ounce) can Italian plum tomatoes with their juice
4 cups fresh sweet basil packed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 quart chicken stock or water
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.
In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown.
Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock.
Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes.
Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade. Taste for seasonings.
Serve hot or cold.
Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.
In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown.
Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock.
Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes.
Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade. Taste for seasonings.
Serve hot or cold.
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
Alice Osborne
Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2006
Email the author! alice@dvo.com
Sources:
- www.foodnetwork.com
- www.cravingsomethinghealthy.com
