Summer Tomato Water Recipes

SUMMER TOMATO WATER

Steps:

• Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl, and line the strainer with cheesecloth (or a clean flour sack towel). Add the tomato water ingredients to a blender or food processor, and pulse until pulpy or finely chopped. (You may need to cut the tomatoes or cucumber in large chunks to get it next to the blade. If you do, make sure to pour any extra juice in with them!)
• Pour the mixture into the prepared strainer, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or up to a day.
• Tip: for clear tomato water, don't press or stir the pulp.
• Discard the solids, and keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

SUMMER TOMATO WATER

Steps:

• Line a fine-mesh strainer with cheesecloth, and set it over a bowl or a large liquid measure. Add tomato pulp, seeds, and juice and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. (Tip: For clear liquid, don't stir the pulp.) Tomato water will keep for 3 days in the refrigerator, or it can be frozen and used throughout the year.

TOMATO WATER

Steps:

• Rinse tomatoes well under running water and quarter. In a food processor purée tomatoes with salt until smooth. Line a large sieve set over a tall nonreactive kettle with cheesecloth and carefully pour tomato purée into center of cheesecloth. Gather sides of cheesecloth up over purée to form a large sack and, without squeezing purée, gently gather together upper thirds of cheesecloth to form a neck. Carefully tie neck securely with kitchen string. Tie sack to a wooden spoon longer than diameter of kettle and remove sieve. Put spoon across top of kettle, suspending sack inside kettle and leaving enough room underneath sack so that it will not sit in tomato water that accumulates. Let sack hang in refrigerator at least 8 hours.
• Without squeezing sack, discard it and its contents and transfer tomato water to a bowl. Tomato water keeps, covered and chilled, 4 days.

TOMATO SUMMER PUDDING

Steps:

• Have enough tomatoes to overfill the pudding basin you will use. Dip into boiling water and peel them. Chop roughly and sprinkle with good sea salt and pepper and a tiny bit of sugar. Pour some passata into a large soup plate and season with lemon juice and Worstershire sauce, and maybe a touch of pepper sauce. Soak the bread slices briefly in this mixture and line your bowl with them, leaving no cracks or crannies. To the tomatoes add as much crushed garlic as you fancy, a good measure of olive oil and lots of torn up basil leaves. Adjust the seasoning and pour the whole lot into the bread lined bowl. Seal the top with more soaked bread. Place the receptacle on top with weights and leave overnight in the refrigerator. Turn out onto a fine dish and surround with goodies--quail eggs, olives, peppers, capers or what you will. A bowl of sour cream might be passed round with it, or good home-made mayonnaise.

SUMMER FRESH TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine peeled, cubed tomatoes, softened butter, and olive oil, and red wine vinegar. Add mozzarella cheese to the mixture.
• Crush garlic clove and add to mixture.
• Add dried oregano, parsley and basil.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Place sauce in a plastic container with a tight lid and shake vigorously.
• Let it sit at room temperature for several hours.
• Serve over a pound of pasta and top with Romano cheese, if desired.

SUMMER TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine all the ingredients, except the pasta.
• Marinate for at least 2 hours.
• The longer, the better.
• Marinate at room temperature.
• Cook the pasta in salted water until"al dente".
• Drain thouroughly& transfer to a bowl.
• Add the sauce and toss.
• Adjust your seasonings to taste and serve with extra parmesan cheese.
• You may use spaghetti, zitis, shells or rotini.

SUMMER TOMATO TERRINE

Steps:

• Bring large pot of water to boil. Using slotted spoon, dip tomato in for a few seconds and remove. Repeat until skin cracks, and set aside to cool. Repeat with remaining tomatoes. Slip skins off, and cut tomatoes in half. Remove cores and seeds. Cut flesh into 1/4-inch dice, and place in large bowl.
• In a small sauté pan over low heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil and sauté garlic just until softened, not browned. Add to tomatoes with onion, vinegar and remaining oil. Season with salt and pepper. Toss to mix well.
• Line an 11 1/2-by-4-by-3-inch terrine with plastic wrap. Remove crust from bread, and cut loaf lengthwise to make a slice 1/4 inch thick to fit bottom of mold. (If necessary, use more than one slice, fitting them together in an even layer.) Spoon a third of the tomatoes evenly across bread, and sprinkle with a third of the parsley.
• Top with another 1/4-inch layer of bread. Add a third of the tomatoes and a third of the parsley. Repeat with last layers of bread, tomato and parsley, and top with bread. Spread any juices over bread. Cover with plastic, and place brick or similar weight on top. Refrigerate overnight.
• To serve, lift terrine from mold and remove plastic wrap. Using a serrated knife, cut terrine into slices 1/2-inch thick. Serve 2 as side dish, or 3 as first course.

CREAMY SUMMER TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, and cook, stirring, until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Add wine, tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Cook just until tomatoes are falling apart, about 5 minutes. Stir in basil, and remove from heat.
• Let cool slightly. Transfer tomato mixture to a blender, filling the jar no more than halfway; work in batches if necessary. Cover lid with a clean dish towel, and press lid securely in place while blending soup.
• Return soup to saucepan. Add cream, and adjust consistency with water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper.

TOMATO SUMMER PUDDING

Steps:

• Cut a shallow X in the bottom of each tomato with a sharp paring knife and blanch tomatoes in 2 batches in a 5- to 6-quart pot of boiling water, 1 minute per batch. Transfer tomatoes with a slotted spoon to a cutting board and, when cool enough to handle, peel, beginning from scored end, with knife.
• While tomatoes are cooling, mince and mash garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt using a large heavy knife. Halve tomatoes crosswise, discard cores, and scoop seeds into a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Press on seeds to extract liquid, then discard seeds. Coarsely chop tomatoes, then coarsely purée in batches with strained tomato liquid in a blender or food processor.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a deep 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté garlic paste, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat and carefully add a small amount of puréed tomatoes near side of skillet (sauce will splatter and bubble vigorously). When bubbling subsides, add remaining purée, 1 3/4 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Return skillet to heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Cool sauce to room temperature, about 1 hour, then stir in vinegar.
• Trim crusts from bread slices, reserving crusts for another use. If using Pullman loaf, cut 4 slices in half diagonally, then cut 1 round from 1 more slice using cookie cutter. If using round loaves, square off 5 slices of bread from center of loaf and cut triangles and 1 round in same manner. Ladle 3/4 cup sauce into soufflé dish and spread to cover bottom. Line bottom of dish with bread in a pinwheel shape, putting round in center and fanning triangles around it, covering sauce completely (you may have 1 triangle left over). Ladle 1 1/4 cups sauce over bread layer, spreading evenly to cover. Cover sauce with more bread slices, trimming as necessary to fit in 1 layer in dish. Repeat layering 3 more times, using 1 1/4 cups tomato sauce each time and ending with bread. Cover top layer of bread with remaining sauce. Cover surface with plastic wrap, then top with a plate small enough to just fit inside dish. Weight pudding with 2 heavy cans (about 2 pounds total) and chill at least 12 hours.
• Remove weights and plate and run a thin knife around edge of dish. Invert a large plate over pudding and invert pudding onto plate. If any sauce remains in dish, spoon it over pudding. Cut into wedges, drizzle with olive oil, and serve chilled or at room temperature.