Ratatouille

GET
8 large juicy organic tomatoes
5 large organic garlic cloves
3 tbsp cold pressed olive oil

2 medium organic onions
2 firm organic aubergines

2 small organic zucchinis, sliced.
3 tbsp cold pressed olive oil
Basil

DO
Make a tomato sauce. You may prefer to do this the day before and use some of it for a spaghetti sauce.
Pour boiling water over tomatoes and peel them.
Press garlic and fry slowly in a pan.
After a few minutes add sliced tomatoes and cover with a lid.
Continue to cook on a low heat for about 5 hours until the liquid has mostly evaporated and a sugo (sauce in Italian) remains. Stir occasionally. Remove lid for some periods to reduce the liquid.

Garlic, easy to peel

Chop onions and fry slowly in olive oil, stirring occasionally until lightly golden.
Rinse the aubergines and press out the brown liquid.
Cut aubergines into cubes.
Add aubergines to the onions.
Fry for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add zucchini slices.
Fry for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
Add the tomato sauce, stir in and cover. Cook for about 30 minutes
Add the chopped basil.

Heritage Tomatoes

Serve hot with penne pasta. Cheese top the left overs on the next day and bake in the oven.

Baked penne with tomatoes

This dish is a favourite with leftover pasta and tomato sauce from the day before, but can be done from scratch too.

GET
500 g Penne
1 cup of tomato sauce
1 cup of cherry tomatoes
Some basil leaves

Optional
2 cups of cream
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/4 cup rennet-free cooking cheese 
1/4 cup Gorgonzola cheese
1/4 Mozzarella cheese


DO
A)  The leftover option:
The pasta and tomato sauce have been already mixed the day before. Now add the small tomatoes and if you like the cream and cheese mixture. Heat the oven. Grate some of the cooking cheese over the dish and cook till the pasta is hot and the cheese has melted. Decorate with basil.

B)  Without the leftovers
Boil the pasta al dente and drain. Mix all cheeses, cream in a bowl. Mix pasta, dairy and the small tomatoes and place on shallow baking dish. Grate some of the cooking cheese over the dish. Cook till the cheese has melted. Decorate with shredded basil leaves.
   

Bunya Pine Nuts in Green Tomato Sauce

GET

25 Bunya nuts
10 ripe green “Green Zebra” Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum)
see details on previous post
1 large onion
4 garlic cloves
2 celery sticks
a dash of agave nectar
some olive oil

Split Bunya nuts with garlic

DO

Peel the bunya nuts. Skin the tomatoes and chop them. Cut the onion fine and fry in the hot olive oil. When golden, add the tomatoes, the garlic and the finely chopped celery. Add the bunyas, cover and simmer for 25 min. Remove the lid and lightly cook for another 10- 15 min to get a sugo/thick consistency.

The sauce was served with small firm potatoes. This combination puts an end to the simile 'The bunya tastes like a potato'. Served with a crunchy rucola salad

Tomato, Bunya, Garlic in cooking stage

The desired cooked consistency

The unpredictability of the bunya harvest: 6 cones were peeled, a large box was filled with 'compost' and the yield can be seen on top. A crop that does not conform to an efficiency obsessed agri-industry.

Click to enlarge

More Tomatoes
Bunya spaghetti napolitana
Tomato sauce with noodles

More on Bunyas
Bunya Pine Nuts with Aubergine
Bunya Spaghetti Napolitana
Kumera Bunya Soup
Bunya Pine Nuts in Coconut Milk

Omelette with Heirloom Green Zebra and Other Tomato Varieties

Click to enlarge

Here are two varieties of egg dishes with green heirloom tomatoes or yellow and cherry tomatoes. For vegans the eggs can be substituted with tofu. The dish can be served as a hearty breakfast or a lunch. All ingredients should be organic.


GREEN Tomato Eggs
2 -3 medium  “Green Zebra” (Solanum lycopersicum)
NB they are not unripe tomatoes!
Basil

DO
Skin the ripe tomatoes using boiling water. Slice them and add to the hot olive oil. When cooked, push to the side and add the scrambled eggs into the rest of the pan. Cook and serve with 2 or 3 sprigs of fresh basil.

YELLOW and Cherry Tomato Eggs with Dill
Heat oil in the pan. Add cherry and yellow tomatoes and fry for a few minutes. Slide egg mixture into the pan. Cook until set. Turn over. Sprinkle with chopped dill. Feta pieces could also be added.

The EGGS
1 1/2 bantam eggs per person
Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl with a little water and mix well with a fork.



VEGAN
225g silken tofu
1 tsp Soya sauce
1 small onion
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 small potatoes ( boiled yesterday)
Olive oil
Chives

DO
Fry finely chopped onions in hot olive oil, add small potato cubes. Mash the silken tofu in a bowl with a fork and add the Soya sauce and the finely grated turmeric. Add mixture to the pan and cook. Sprinkle with finely chopped chives.

More on ripe green tomatoes
The Battery Rooftop Garden has an interesting post on the heirloom Green Zebra. And there is some tomato art of Uli Westphal giving an insight into the amazing variety of the tomato plant family.



More egg dishes
Omelette with mushrooms and thyme
Asparagus eggs

Kumera Bunya Soup

GET
2 large orange kumeras/ sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas)
5 carrots
5 ripe tomatoes
30 bunya nuts (or waxy potatoes)
3-4 small zucchinis/ courgettes
500 g peas
black pepper seeds & 1 bay leaf
pinches of garden herbs
olive oil
some cooked durum wheat semolina pasta (optional)
all organic and filtered water

DO
Stock
Boil 1 liter of water in a pot, add black pepper, bay and garden herbs
Add clean peelings and vegetable off cuts as you go

Soup
Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and peel them after 6 min.
Chop peeled carrots, cut into chunks
Fry carrots in hot olive oil for a while, then add chopped tomatoes. Fry, stir, then cover and let it simmer gently for 15 min. Should you run out of liquid, pour some of the hot stock through a sieve into the mixture and cover.
Peel kumera and chop into large chunks, add them with bunya nuts to soup. Close the lid and let it simmer for 40 min. Add peas and small zucchini cubes and cook till they are done your liking.
Shell pasta was added here on day two, but it detracted from the flavours.

Another bunya soup variation is lima beans, stock, garlic, pepper and rosemary. Clip the pointy tips off the bunya nuts.

Bunya Spaghetti Napolitana

Get
1 kg ripe tomatoes (skinned, chopped)
1 onion or leek
2 carrots
4 celery sticks
2 cloves minced garlic
1 bay leaf
a dash of agave nectar
black Pepper corns
some olive oil

30 Bunya nuts, (optional)

A cup full of roasted pine nuts

Pasta
500 g organic durum wheat semolina pasta (spaghetti)

All organic & filtered water

DO
Fry finely chopped onion/whites of leek. Add finely chopped carrots and celery cubes. Stir. After all is translucent, add chopped tomatoes, garlic, agave, bay and peppercorns. Stir for a while simmer gently with covered lid. Add some boiling water if need be to cover the vegetables. Add peeled bunya nuts, cook for 30 minutes or more. Cook covered over a low heat till there is a thick sauce.
Roast pine nuts gently in dry pan. Do not burn. Set aside

Cook pasta "al dente"

Serve separate or mix in large decorative bowl and serve very hot with sprinkled pine nuts.

See also
Tomato sauce with noodles

Greek Vegetable Casserole with Feta

Get
4 - 5 large waxy peeled potatoes
1 - 2 large aubergines
5 - 6 zucchinis
2 - 3 large carrots
1 - 2 large onions
10 tomatoes
6 - 10 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
Some peppercorns & marjoram, fresh parsley
Olive oil

200 g Goats milk feta (for 2 people)
Flour & Olive oil

Brown rice (optional)



Do
Fry onion in olive oil, add chopped carrots, then add chopped potato chunks.
Skin tomatoes and roll aubergine pieces in salt, let them drain.
Cut zucchinis & garlic and set aside.
After 15 min. of soaking, wash aubergine and drain well.
Cut skinned tomatoes small. Add aubergine and tomatoes to the pot.
All vegies should be well covered, if not, add a little vegetable stock or boiling water.
Add herbs and pepper, simmer till the potatoes are tender.
Then add the zucchini for a short time.
Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley

Cut the FETA into 4 wedges
Roll in flower & put on a greased baking dish
Cook in the oven till golden (for 20 min at approx. 200 degrees, second shelf from the bottom)

Can be served with steamed brown rice, but if a lot of potatoes are included, rice is not necessary.
Image 2: Renoir, Pierre-Auguste, 1881, via Zeno

Tomato sauce with noodles

Get
1.5 kg Tomatoes (e.g. Roma, fleshy)
lots of Garlic
4 Tbsp Olive oil
Pepper corns
Bay leaves
Noodles of your choice.



Do
Heat the olive oil in a large pan or flat, wide saucepan.
Press the garlic into it. Fry it just a little - do not brown or burn.
Put tomatoes in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes slowly, so they stand in the hot water for a few minutes. Then pour in cold water. This loosens the skins.
Peel them and remove any hard core.
Add to the hot garlic. Cover with a lid.

Cook at a very low heat all day, occasionally removing the lid for a while. Add the pepper and bay leaves after a couple of hours.
Most of the liquid should evaporate away leaving a thick 'sugo'.
Boil a large pot of water. Add noodles to fast boiling water and keep it boiling.
Cooking time depends on the noodles. Test them from time to time.
Pour off water when ready and add the noodles to the sauce. Serve immediately.

Goes well with Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano-Reggiano) either grated or sliced thinly. Also goes well with a pesto made of basil or coriander. And a green salad.

A variation on this sauce for non-vegetarians is the Italian style sauce which includes just one sardine in the initial stages with the garlic. (thanks Sabine of Zweitrad)