Determined as I am not to run out of ideas for next year’s crop (= freezer full of sauce and whole cherry tomatoes ) the cookery book quest continues .
Today with The River Café Classic Italian Cook Book by Rose Gray & Ruth Rogers.
Described as an in-depth celebration of Italian food with over 200 new, traditional and regional family recipes. Let’s hunt the tomatoes ….
Soup
I’ve struggled with fresh Tomato Soup – for me, something about the texture or flavour doesn’t equate to a deep of bowl of happiness.
Perhaps Pappa Al Pomodoro will ? Bread and Tomato soup. Tomatoes pureed with bread, basil and olive oil. Soup of the Day at Tomato Lovers sunset home?
Roast
Pollo con Olive Nere. Chicken stuffed with olives and tomatoes.
Beef tomatoes cored, chopped and mixed with black olives, olive oil, lemon, parsley and garlic. Half deployed in chicken stuffing, half roasted along side in the tin.
Or save the chicken and for Pomodoro Fiorentino Al Forno roast Costoluto Fiorentinos with garlic, thyme leaves and olive oil.
Pasta
Spaghetti con Bottarga (with sun-dried grey mullet roe).
Cherry tomatoes with garlic, parsley, dried red chillies and bottarga di muggine.
And whilst a gross loss to ‘who makes a pasta sauce like this’ I could try making Spaghetti alla Puttanesca myself – ripe plum tomatoes, anchovy fillets, dried red chillies, capers and black olives.
Sauce
For hot summer days : Salsa di Pomodoro crudo, Raw Tomato Sauce with plum and cherry tomatoes, garlic, red wine vinegar , olive oil and basil and still no heat but hot Salsa rossa cruda . As before but instead of garlic and basil, red chillies and oregano plus toasted ciabatta crumbs.
Bread
Crostini Di Pomodori Crudo. Tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, basil piled onto toasted ciabatta.
The roast chicken would make a colourful summer Sunday lunch and in the meantime whilst we wait for those days to return this book with its strong, colour intense images of food, people and places makes a good place to linger.
