It is the season for delicious tomatoes; they are such a versatile ingredient for so many different dishes! You can throw cherry tomatoes into a salad. Create a salad entirely from tomatoes (Three types make it awesome), with a wee glug of red wine vinegar, rapeseed oil and a bit of salt and pepper… Scrum!
Goji berries, Pomegranates, Wheat grass, Almonds, Blueberries and Flaxseed are all buzz words around the ‘Super Food’ list, but the humble tomato often gets forgotten about!
Tomatoes are crammed full of amazing things. They have very high levels of Potassium which helps cell, tissue and organ function. Vitamin C which helps the repair and maintenance of cartilage, bones and teeth, it also helps the healing of wounds. Beta Carotene which helps defend the immune system and helps to keep skin healthy.
Finally, the most impressive is Lycopen, which helps neutralise harmful free radicals, which are implicated in cancer, heart disease, macular degeneration and other age related illness!
So what I’m trying to say is… get eating those tomatoes, any which way you can! Below is a recipe for a delicious and easy pasta sauce.
Tantalising Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
10 ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 cup Burgundy wine
1 bay leaf
2 stalks celery
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Method
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Have ready a large bowl of iced water. Plunge whole tomatoes in boiling water until skin starts to peel, 1 minute. Remove with slotted spoon and place in ice bath. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then remove peel and squeeze out seeds. Chop 8 tomatoes and puree in blender or food processor. Chop remaining two tomatoes and set aside.
- In a large pot over a medium heat, cook onion, bell pepper, carrot and garlic in oil and butter until onion starts to soften (5 minutes). Pour in pureed tomatoes. Stir in chopped tomato, basil, Italian seasoning and wine. Place bay leaf and whole celery stalks in pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 2 hours. Stir in tomato paste and simmer an additional 2 hours. Discard bay leaf and celery and serve.
