It is that time of year when those tomatoes just keep coming in the garden and I'm forever seeking another way to use them. This Tomato Salsa recipe is better than the bought stuff because it doesn't have any sugar or other nasties you might be avoiding. You can adjust the amount of chilli you put in to suit your own taste for heat and you can spice it up with herbs to create your own special blend. Use it as a dip, with your favourite nachos/tacos/burritos, add it to guacamole, or serve … [Read more...]
Courgette Slice Recipe
I love this Courgette Slice Recipe! It is a fantastic way to use up your glut of summer courgettes (or zucchini) - and tomatoes. You can vary the flavour by using different herbs, using your favourite types of cheeses and I added a few rashers of chopped bacon to mine as well. You can freeze grated courgettes in small bags so that they are easy to use in winter - I squeeze them lightly in a cloth to remove most of the liquid and freeze them in 1 cup batches. 3 cups grated courgettes, … [Read more...]
Tomato & Rose Petal Harissa Recipe
Tomato & Rose Petal Harissa sounded like a fascinating recipe and when my friend Darja said that she couldn't find any for a recipe she wanted to make, I thought I would try making some. I had some rose petals from my rugosa rose (it has edible rose hips), ripe tomatoes ready to use and some chillies in the freezer. This recipe is adapted from Jamie Oliver - the original uses smoked paprika but I find the smokey flavour too overpowering for my taste and now make the recipe using sweet … [Read more...]
Spiced Cherry Tomato Sauce Recipe
Spiced Cherry Tomato Sauce is a wonderful way to use up the glut of cherry tomatoes that happens in summer. Most tomato recipes require you to remove the skins and there is NO WAY I am doing that with cherry tomatoes. This recipe cooks the tomatoes, skins and all, down to a thick sauce that you can stir through pasta. It keeps in the fridge for several days and also freezes well. 75ml olive oil 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 1kg cherry tomatoes, sliced in half 1/2 tsp caster sugar 1/2 tsp … [Read more...]
Tomato Chutney Sauce Recipe
I have always been a fan of Whitlocks tomato chutney sauce, much preferring it to plain tomato sauce, so I was delighted to find a recipe that has all the wonderful layers of different flavours to it along with texture and a kick of chilli. You can experiment with different spices to suit your tastes. I had plenty of tomatoes in the freezer but you can replace or supplement the fresh or frozen tomatoes with tinned tomatoes. 2½ kg tomatoes, peeled* and diced (or equivalent tinned tomatoes, … [Read more...]
Tomato, Eggplant & Ricotta with Zoodles Recipe
This Tomato, Eggplant & Ricotta with Zoodles recipe is a variation on Jamie Oliver's Happiness Pasta recipe in his Everyday Superfood Cookbook and it certainly gave me happiness enjoying it in the sunshine with a glass of red wine. It is a perfect vegetarian meal to wow guests with, especially if you have grown the vegetables and made the ricotta yourself. 2 eggplants (or aubergine) 40g pine nuts 2 cloves garlic 3 shallots 1 bunch fresh basil Olive Oil 800g tomatoes (can use frozen … [Read more...]
Trying different tomato varieties
This year I experimented trying different tomato varieties from my usual tried and true varieties. Kings Plant Barn had some Epic Collection tomato varieties that I hadn't seen before so decided to try them out as they seemed to be a good mix of sizes and colours: Molly Jane Oxheart (new generation) Tomato Savour Sugar-gold I got them quite early season and was very pleased to be able to say "I have a greenhouse" when told that it was still to early to plant them outside. I … [Read more...]
Eggplant Tomato Pasta Sauce Recipe
Eggplant and tomato pasta sauce is a deliciously different recipe to try if you are fortunate to have a good supply of eggplants from your garden (or from the markets). 1.5kg tomatoes 2 eggplants (or aubergine) 2 onions, finely chopped 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped Pinch dried chilli (this is worth adding to give the recipe a lift even if you are not a big chilli fan) Olive Oil 3 sundried tomatoes, finely chopped Splash of wine (whatever you have, optional) Pasta Cut a cross in the … [Read more...]
Easy Tomato Puree Recipe
In this post I share my mother's fabulous tip for how to make a really easy tomato puree, and lots of ideas for using all those tomatoes from your garden. At peak tomato season you often get to a point when you've just got too many tomatoes to keep up with the preserving. You can freeze tomatoes whole - just put them whole into freezer bags (see Freezing Vegetables). This is very quick and easy, but if you have lots of tomatoes then there may not be enough room in the freezer for them … [Read more...]
Crispy Eggplant Sliders
If you are lucky enough to have a good crop of eggplant growing in your garden, then these crispy eggplant sliders make a great simple but tasty meat-free meal. Eggplant (or aubergine), sliced into 1cm rounds 1-2 eggs depending on how many sliders or burgers you are making Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper 1 clove garlic, crushed Panko breadcrumbs (you can use ordinary breadcrumbs but these make the eggplant deliciously crispy) Olive oil Wholemeal seeded bread rolls, … [Read more...]