Recipe Thread

[Fred]

After reading Admiral's Tomato Sauce recipe which I will have to try I thought I would share my Cheats Passata. For those that don't know, Passata is a bit like a Tomato Purée but not as thick and is a great basis for any tomato dish or can be used as a soup.

This is a simple way to make your own, but it works best with Black Russian tomatoes. If you've never tried Black Russian tomatoes, you don't know what you are missing. They are as ugly as hell but have the most fantastic tomato flavour in the world, they are good eaten raw but they make the best passata you will ever try.

This recipe does work with other tomatoes but if you use Black Russian you don't have to worry about the pips or skins as they will go soft and blend in nicely.

It's as easy as this.

• Get your ripe Black Russian tomatoes remove some of the hard cores or dodgy looking cracks (I told you they are ugly) dice them up and throw in a large baking tray.
  
• Splash in a good dash of Olive oil.
  
• Add Salt & Pepper to your own taste.
  
• Mix it all up and shove in a hot oven for about 1 hour, halfway through give them a bit of a bash up with a wooden spoon and don't worry if there are some burnt bits it will add to the flavour.
  
• When they are soft and turned mostly to liquid throw them in your blitzer thingy (I have one of those on a stick and blitz them in a large bowl or saucepan) you will see as you blitz them the pips and skins will all blend in and you will end up with a nice thick tomato passata.
  
• Let it cool, bung it in plastic freezer boxs the size of one portion and freeze.
  

That's it, now you have Passata throughout the year. Well that is if you have grown enough toms.

Oh and regarding Black Russian tomatoes they will grow outside but you get a better harvest in a poly tunnel, and remember they are Ugly. You may find them difficult to find here and they will tell you to use Crimian but they are not as good.