I’m not supposing for a moment you’ve spend this week wondering what happened to the rest of Sunday’s plus-sized leek but rest assured it got put to good use; in further tomato pairings.
I turned to Rose Elliot’s Complete Vegetarian Cookbook. First up, Leeks Cooked with Tomatoes and Coriander Seeds. I adapted the recipe to give leeks and tomatoes equal billing by weight – about 800g of each.
Then it was simplicity itself. Leek chopped, tomatoes skinned and chopped. Olive oil heated in a heavy pan. In went the veg along with a crushed clove of garlic, 2 teaspoons of coarsely crushed coriander seeds plus salt and pepper. Leave uncovered to gently simmer for 30 minutes – giving a loving stir with a wooden spoon every now and then.
The result - a delicious, aromatic , silky, veggy stew. First I ate it neat, then I added chickpeas; with a dollop of pesto and fromage frais mix to serve. And finally, determined to put my egg mishap of a few weeks ago behind me, I popped the veggie mix into a saucepan and when throughly heated, created a couple of shallow hollows, into which I cracked 2 eggs. Lid on – and waited for the eggs to cook. Very tasty. It’s official - eggs and I have now mended the cracks in our relationship.
And then, with still more of this golden goose of a leek to enjoy, I made (again from Rose Elliot) Tomato, Leek and Apple Salad. The apple - Scrumptious (a pretty, red variety in which the red of the skin bleeds into the white of the flesh), the tomatoes - Elegance and the leek – giant.
So, with some authority, I now declare Leeks and Tomatoes a kitchen duo to count on.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Yummy, yummy, yummy! I’m so glad that the giant leek, which initially seemed such a challenge, has come up trumps and formed a fond relationship with your delicious toms. Like the look of that apple too. I can feel a tomato cookbook coming on!
As well as the veg which have been delicious, it’s made me remember how good chickpeas are as well. I had to rummage in the back of the cupboard, found a tin, washed all that horrible gloop off them ( not as bad as the kidney bean gloop – do you wash that off ? – or if you are making a chilli – put the whole lot in? I heard that recommended as a perfectly ok thing to do but I’m dubious till someone else tells me that’s what they do. I don’t like the look of the gloop but on the other hand washing it all out is a pain )…. anyway back to the tomatoes ! I also made celery and tomato soup (non blended) with some dried herb mix and nothing more and that was good – and got even better with chick peas and grated parmesan added!
gloop removing is not that much of a pain … just chuck the pulses in a sieve and rinse with lots of fresh cold water … I don’t fancy putting the gloop in my food either!
Ok – we’re agreed. No gloop ! For food – the mantra is ‘Greed, good – gloop, bad’ !