Posts Tagged ‘Tomatoes’

These incredible Piennolo tomatoes are in a league of their own. They are protected by the slow food Presidia and have PDO protected status since 2009. They are grown on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. The volcanic soil gives them an incredible fresh flavour, with a good contrast of sweetness and acidity. which is best enjoyed in tomato sauces.

In Winter in Naples these tomatoes are traditionally hung in home attics and cellars to intensify the flavour, and if you are lucky enough to have a cellar at home, you can try this yourself! Otherwise they will keep for a good few days in the fridge.

Please note: These tomatoes taste incredible but they typically have a wrinkly skin and soft texture.

Piennolo Tomatoes, from £3.33/250g

Making a fresh pasta sauce is wonderfully satisfying, and you will find that the flavour is much fresher than any that you will find in a jar. It is also very easy to do and a great way to use up any excess ripe tomatoes.

The type of tomato you choose will of course decide the flavour of the sauce. Small datterini tomatoes will make a beautifully sweet sauce, but only need a quick sauté to avoid turning into a pulp and losing their lovely shape and skin. Small cherry tomatoes are tarter and will need a bit more work to peel and de-seed, but are great if you prefer a tart sauce.

Our preferred variety is the meaty San Marzano. They have a good flavour and are very easy to prepare, but you can also use bull’s heart or vine tomatoes, or a mixture of any of these.

First, choose the ripest tomatoes as these will taste sweeter. Wash well while you boil water in a large pot. Place the tomatoes in the boiling water for around 2 minutes until you see the skin beginning to crack. By blanching the tomatoes like this, the skin is very easy to peel.

Carefully remove from the water with a slotted spoon and plunge into chilled water. This helps the skin come off and will cool the tomato enough to handle.

Gently peel the tomatoes, cut off the tip and discard. If you like, cut in half and remove the seedy pulp.

Now you have two options – either cut the tomatoes into you preferred size, or place them all in a large bowl and gently squeeze them until they are broken down.

When you are ready to cook, heat a couple of spoonfuls of extra virgin olive oil and gently fry a couple of crushed garlic cloves. Once they’re golden brown, remove and add the tomatoes.

Add salt and pepper, chilli if you like, cook on a high heat for about 5 minutes (see when all water from the tomatoes has reduced).

Boil some more water, with plenty of salt, and cook your pasta (al dente).

Add lots of torn basil to the sauce, then mix with the pasta in the pan before serving. Finish off with a drizzle of fruity extra virgin olive oil and some grated pecorino.

Serves 2 as a main

250g spaghetti
4 San Marzano tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil
basil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
pepper
fine sea salt
rock sea salt

Boil a pot of water for the pasta, when boiling quickly blanch the tomatoes for a few seconds. Scoop them out and cool under running water. This will help the skin peel off very easily, so that you’re left with only the pulp. Top the tomatoes and cut in half lengthways, then cut in long strips. Put the fillets on a pasta drainer and toss with some fine sea salt so that they will lose any excess water. Leave to rest for 10-15 minutes.

When ready, put some rock sea salt into the water and start cooking the pasta.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan, brown the garlic and sautee the tomatoes for a minute or so, on a high heat. Remove from the heat, adjust with salt if necessary, toss the spaghetti with the fillets and plate up. Drizzle with olive oil and a crack of pepper, then add the torn basil. You can add Parmesan or Pecorino if you wish.

TASTE: San Marzano Tomatoes are the most sought after tomato for sauces. Their meaty texture, sweet and intense flavour, lack of excess water and seeds, and a particular skin (very easy to peel), are the reasons that make any sauce made with these tomatoes a success.

REGION: These tomatoes are said to have originated in Peru, but donated to the Naples kingdom in the 18th century, they found a rich soil and the perfect weather on the volcanic slopes of Mount Vesuvio.

QUALITY: The best time of the year to enjoy this beautiful tomato is definitely the summer, and at the moment our buyers in Italy are recommending this variety as particularly good.

COST: We always let you know the price per kg so you can easily compare our prices. You will struggle to find this variety for sale anywhere else!

Natoora“ San Marzano Tomatoes“ £6.72/1kg

2 round aubergines
350g mascarpone
500g datterini confit
oregano
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

First prepare the datterini confit.

Slice the aubergines in half and bake at 180C or 30 minutes on greaseproof paper.

Once softened, scoop out the pulp and discard the skin. Mash the flesh in a bowl with salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil.

Season the mascarpone with oregano and extra virgin olive oil, adding some of the water left when cooking the tomatoes, until you have a creamy consistency.

Transfer the creamy mascarpone in a piping bag and divide into 4 martini glasses. Top with a few of the confit tomatoes, the aubergine puree, more datterini, a final touch of mascarpone for decoration and a few basil leaves.

Keep refrigerated until serving. Serve with crispy bread.

It’s certainly starting to feel like summer is over in the UK – I had to dig out my winter boots already this week and to rub salt in the wound got splashed by a very inconsiderate car. It might seem unbelievable, but the sun does in fact shine for slightly longer in other countries. In Italy, the beautiful sun not only tans speedo clad bodies all along the beaches, but also gives us some truly fantastic culinary delights.

Thanks to our lovely Italian buyer Roberto, we can at least enjoy some second hand sun through the treats on offer at Milan market. Although available all year, vegetables like tomatoes, courgettes, peppers and aubergines are particularly good at their peak in the summer months. The markets are packed with these sunkissed delights, so its a great time to make the most of them!

At Natoora, we have a bit of love affair with tomatoes.  We could sing their praises all day long, particularly at this time of year. At the moment we have seven wonderous varieties on offer. Take advantage of their versatility and amazing flavours with our simple tomato guide!

Great for Salads

Datterini and Baby San Marzano Tomatoes

These are so good and so sweet you don’t want to spoil them too much by cooking a sauce with them. Of course you can have them with pasta, but try adding them last in the pan (you will have halved them first). We love them in salads, and try marinating them with your favourite herb and extra virgin olive oil to dress meat, fish or the most amazing brushetta you will ever have. Their flavour is very intense and sweet, so bear that in mind when you add other ingredients to your salad… these like to be the star of the show!

The Meaty Beasts

Bull’s Heart Tomatoes

The meatiest tomatoes of all, big, soft textured, are amazing in salads. For their shape and texture, they’re also interestingly good pan fried. Their flavour is decisively more delicate compared to the above varieties and for this reason they pair deliciously with intense ingredients, so use them if you need meaty texture to pair something more overpowering… a good example is a starter of tomatoes with bottarga.

The Saucy Ones

San Marzano Tomatoes

Buy these if you’re thinking of making a quick tomato sauce for pasta, or a chuncky raw sauce for fish. They’re incredibly flavoursome and meaty, and the water content is quite low so you’ll get a sauce that will hold on to the pasta with the right amount of sweetness, which will not overpower the other ingredients.. they’re great “binding” tomatoes. Plus, the skin is quite thin, so if you quickly blanch them whole, it will peel off very easily. This is a basic preliminary operation when using them in cooking. Try doing this first, then dice them up thinly, add capers, garlic, salt, pepper, add on top of fish when baking.

Home made tomato passata

On top of tasting best at this time of the year, tomatoes are also cheaper at the moment so it’s good to make the most of them by buying large quantities. Of course one can eat only so much, so what to do with them if you’re not feeding an army? Make passata!

5kg San Marzano tomatoes
2 onions
250g carrots
250g celery
salt

Wash the tomatoes, them roughly chop them. Dice up the vegetables and put everything in a large pot. Boil for half an hour, removing any water forming on the surface. Puree in a moulin and pour into clean, dry jars. Sterilise for 15 minutes (follows the jars manifacturer’s instructions) and once cool, close and store. You will have a great base for any tomato sauce ready in minutes.

Notes on preserving

Always use sterilised jars, and make sure the vegs are perfect by discarding any speckled parts. This will ensure a perfect preserve and will make it last for longer! Always close the jars when the contents are cool, storing them in a cool dry place, away from the light. If you notice any activity in the jars or moulding, discard immediately and do not eat.

Top Tomato Tips

- Vine vs Single: Buying on the vine is a pretty definite guarentee that your tomatoes have been ripened on the vine as opposed to being gassed with ethylene to make them look red and ripe. Of course all the tomatoes we sell have been ripened on the vine, whether they are still attached to it or not, but you can’t be so sure in the supermarket.

- Do not refrigerate: Tomatoes can lose their flavour if kept too cold so these red delights are best kept at room temperature.

- Peeling: The best way to remove the skin is to quickly blanch them whole. The skin should loosen so you can easily peel it off.

- Not so tasty: The vine and stalk are actually toxic so best avoiding eating that part, no matter how good they smell! In the 1600s, us Brits thought the whole tomato was a pretty nasty cousin of deadly nightshade and deemed it unfit for consumption! Oh how very very wrong we were…best eat a few more to make up for such a terrible error in judgement!

If we’ve managed to spread some tomato love today, try our tomato selection today. All our favourites in one handy bag!

Aubergine is at the peak of its season at the moment so it’s the perfect time to enjoy its creamy flesh. With ripe tomatoes, basil and mozzarella, this dish makes the most of some great seasonal produce.

Serves 2

2 large aubergines
4 ripe San Marzano tomatoes
garlic
fresh basil leaves
125g mozzarella
parmesan
salt and freshly ground black pepper
chillies

Chop some basil leaves and garlic and mix with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Wash the tomatoes then slice and place in a bowl with a crushed garlic clove, some roughly chopped basil, salt and pepper and a dash of E.V.O. oil. If you like a bit of a kick, add some chilli. Leave to marinade.

Wash the aubergines and cut off the top. Slice in half lengthways. Slit across and rub sparingly with the herby mix, trying to season the inside of the pulp. Make sure you don’t cut near the skin. Drizzle with olive oil.

Place in a preheated (200C) oven on a baking tray and cook for 25 minutes until soft. Top with the tomatoes, cook for a further 5 minutes. Then add the mozzarella slices and sprinkle with parmesan, grill for a couple of minutes and serve, garnished with whole basil leaves.

If you like to have something with it, try some cous cous or a refreshing mixed leaves salad.

This week we’re celebrating our beautiful tomatoes. It’s the perfect time of year to enjoy sunkissed sweet datterini and meaty San Marzanos grown at the base of Mount Vesuvius. We have all the best varieties, expertly picked every week from the finest markets and growers in Southern Italy. They are so good that they even appear on the menus of some of London’s top restuarants, and have been featured in Theo Randalls “Pasta”, The Metro and Eat In Magazine.

Amazingly tasty this week are the rich San Marzano tomaotes. They are ideal for making sauces and soups and are just delicious in this traditional Tuscan recipe…

500g San Marzano tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
Pinch of crushed chillies
Handful of basil
1ltr beef stock
300g slightly stale bread
extra virgin olive oil

Heat some oil in a large saucepan or pot. Gently fry the garlic and some chillies, removing the garlic when golden brown.

Puree the tomatoes then add to the pot with some basil and cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the bread, thinly sliced. Mix. When  the bread has soaked up the sauce, add the hot stock. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook for 15 minutes adding more stock if necessary. Rest for an hour, then mix again to dissolve the bread. Serve hot, but not piping hot, with a drizzle of olive oil and garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Have your own favourite tomato recipe? Let us know! View our whole range of  fresh tomatoes online today.

To celebrate the launch of Theo Randall’s “Pasta”, we are giving you the chance to win one of 10 exclusive signed copies! Click here for more information and to enter.

“This is one of my favourite books of the year, and a must-have for any pasta lover. Theo’s cooking is sublime” – Jamie Oliver.

“This restaurant served me the best meal I have eaten all year” – Jay Rayner, The Observer

We also have another exclusive recipe preview, from the ‘Tomato’ section of the book. It uses our deliciously sweet Datterini tomatoes. You can make this recipe with the very same tomatoes that Theo uses by ordering online with Natoora!

Pappardelle with Roasted Datterini Tomatoes, Taggiasche Olives and Basil

500g Datterini tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
75g Taggiasche olives, stoned
a small bunch of basil
3 tablespoons olive oil
250g fresh papparedelle (or dried egg pappardelle)
75g young pecorino cheese, grated
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cut the tomatoes in half widthways and squeeze out the seeds. Put the tomatoes in a bowl and toss with the garlic, olives, half the basil, torn into small pieces, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and some salt and pepper. Transfer to a roasting tin or an ovenproof dish and place in an oven preheated to 190C/Gas Mark 5. Roast for 20 minutes; the tomatoes will break up slightly but this is a good thing. Most importantly, their flavour will be concentrated. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for a few minutes.

Cook the pappardelle in a large pan of boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes, until al dente (or cook according to the packet instructions for dried pappardelle). Drain and add to the tomato mixture. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, then rip up the remaining basil and add that too. Toss together until the pasta is coated in the tomato juices. Serve immediately, with the grated pecorino and some black pepper.

(Taken from Theo Randall, “Pasta“.)

Love Pasta?

You can buy fresh pasta online from the best pasta maker in London at Natoora. VIMA makes their pasta by hand, especially for your order and it is the same fresh pasta supplied to top London restaurants.

Or try making your own fresh pasta with our pasta dough kit.

Find more amazing pasta recipes in Theo’s new cookbook – you can win a signed copy if you enter our competition!

Our datterini tomatoes are perfectly sweet. Bring out their intense flavours with this fantastic confit…

Datterini Tomatoes
Salt
Pepper
Thyme
Garlic Cloves, unpeeled and lightly crushed
Zest of Lemon or Orange, grated
Sugar
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Wash the tomatoes thoroughly and dry them.  Cut in half lengthways, leave to drain in a pasta drainer for them to lose any excess water.

Lay them on a baking tray covered in baking paper, season with salt and a little pepper, very little sugar and your favourite herbs. We like this recipe with thyme, garlic and a little lemon or orange zest.

Cook for about 2 hours on a very low heat (80*C).

Remove from the tray, dress with more extra virgin olive oil if liked. Enjoy on your favourite pasta, hot or cold, on bruschetta, salads or as a side in a charcuterie platter. At this time of the year, we would also pair them with goat’s cheese.