Glorious and humble basic Tomato Splodge

Tomato Splodge (TS) is probably one of the first things that I learnt to make, and make again, as a teenager.  It is a student staple on pasta, the start of so many different dishes and the backbone of many others. I have to admit that I tend to feel a bit jumpy if I don't have the basic ingredients for TS and a bag of pasta in the cupboards.

TS basics

At it's most basic level TS is made of Onion, Olive oil and a tin of tomatoes.  Some would argue that Garlic has to be added to the ingredient trinity as a basic too, I don't disagree that it is very important, but have had to make TS without garlic a few times simply because I have run out so I tend not to include it as a 'basic'.

The next level up of sophistication for TS includes the addition of garlic, and a spoon full or two of sugar.  Frankly I see these ingredients as being included in the basic level of TS - I'm not a student anymore so am far more likely to have sugar and fresh garlic in the house on a regular basis. Seasoning must be mentioned here too - add a little salt but not much as if the TS is going to be used for another dish you may want to add more salt then. 

some more complex TS ingredients

The final level of sophistication for TS ingredients can include adding red wine (my favourite addition), tomato puree, soy sauce, Worcester sauce, dried or fresh herbs, Anchovy sauce or paste, mushroom ketchup, Balsamic vinegar, stock, marmite (yes!), honey, paprika, chillies, Port and many other delicious things.

The trick is to chop the onions into equal sized pieces and to saute them in the Olive oil, long and slow until they are translucent.  This takes ages, perhaps 15-20 minutes or more and you should only add the chopped or grated/crushed garlic a little down the line in the process to ensure that it doesn't burn in the long cooking time.

Some people add salt to the onions so they don't burn, others add sugar to add sweetness at this point, and yet others add a tiny dash of water to again prevent burning.  I tend to do none of these things but just take it slow and watch over the pan.

Once the onions are translucent, you should add the tinned tomatoes and then 1-2 heaped teaspoons of sugar.  

All tinned tomatoes are not equal and as a commodity they have really gone up in price over the past few years.  I'm not sure if this reflects the increasing price of the tomatoes themselves or the metal in the can.  You can get cartons of 'tinned tomatoes' now but they are about the same price as tins.

You can buy chopped plum tomatoes or whole plum tomatoes in a tin and organic versions of both - the chopped ones are usually more expensive.  You also get different levels of richness of the tomato juice with the tomatoes.  This means that a tin of tomatoes can just be whole tomatoes or chunks in a very watery tomato juice - the less expensive kind - or in a rich almost passata like sauce - the more expensive kind.  You can also get passata, which is a runny sort of made tomato sauce, and tinned tomatoes with added herbs, onions or garlic.

If you are cooking long and slow and have some tomato puree to hand then I'd go with the cheaper version of tinned tomatoes as the sauce will reduce for you as you cook, and mostly this is what I do, but I must admit using tinned tomatoes with a rich red sauce does feel like it is going to make a nicer TS.  If you are going for the cheaper options try out the tinned tomatoes in the Indian food section of your supermarket as I have found them to be a bit cheaper (as are the tinned chickpeas).

Once you have added your tin(s) of tomatoes and other ingredients (if using) you then need to let the mixture cook down and bubble away for as long as you have got.  If that's only 10 minutes then whack up the heat a little and get on with it. Longer is better. Once as student, when a guest was very delayed for a meal, I cooked TS with additional vegetables in it -  intended for a pasta dish -  for 3 hours, adding additional liquid (red wine) occasionally. It tasted amazing when the guest finally turned up!

So once you have your finished TS the options are innumerable.

The most basic is to use it stirred through cooked pasta with some grated cheese on top and some garlic bread on the side.

You can add cream cheese (Philadelphia style rather than Dairylea style as preference) or cream to make a creamy tomato pasta sauce.

Add sauteed chopped vegetables - peppers, mushrooms, courgettes - for a veggie pasta sauce

Add tinned tuna and black and green olives for a fishy pasta sauce

Cook down a little drier to make the perfect sauce for a pizza base (see Bollywood Pizza recipe in earlier blog post).

Add to cooked minced beef to make a bolognaise style sauce for use on pasta or as part of lasagna

Add to chicken and pepper or chickpeas and spinach and with a little curry powder to make a curry

Add to rice with cashew nuts and vegetables for  a tomatoey cashew nut risotto

I could go on.  But I wont here.

Hooray for Tomato Splodge!

A basic Tomato Splodge Recipe

Bollywood Pizza

A hot recipe for a very quick Bollywood Pizza for 2 people.

My children love pizza and they love Naan bread so putting them together for a very quick supper is very popular.

• Turn oven on at about 200 C
• Open the packet and put the naan breads on to a baking try
• Open 2 tins of tomatoes and spoon them onto the Naan breads trying not to use too much of the juice or things will get very soggy
• Add slices of whatever you have in the cupboard or fridge which seems like it might go on a pizza. I have used variously:

frozen peas / sweetcorn, sliced ham or salami or cold chicken,slices of onion, tinned tuna,olives, chillis, anchovies,thinly sliced peppers / mushrooms / courgettes /spring onions/ cherry tomatoes,left over cooked brocoli, feta cheese cubes, mozzarella balls, herbs, fresh spinach .

• Cover with grated cheese (cheddar or similar)
• Drizzle with olive oil and add salt and paper if you want to
• Pput in the oven for about 10 mins
• Check if it's done by looking to see if the cheese has melted and if it looks good
• Eat it!

Variations if you have a little more time include: 

Making 'tomato splodge' for the pizza sauce - this tastes much better that just tomatoes straight from the tin
 
Chop up an onion and a few cloves of garlic,
Saute them in olive oil until transluscent,
Adding 2 tins of tomatoes and a little sugar (2 tsp), a pinch of salt, and a slug of  red wine and some oregano if you have them
Cook for 15 mins or more until is becomes a rich sauce

Use this to cover the naan bread before you put the toppings on.  Tomato splodge is very useful and it's worth while making double and keeping half in the fridge for another dish another day or just to make Bollywood pizzas again tomorrow.  More on Tomato Splodge in another post.

Making smiley face pizzas

This is great if you are cooking for a certain kind of crowd and is a good choice for when young friends come for tea as they can design their own pizza. As a result they don't have to put anything on it that they don't like to eat (but might be encouraged to try a mushroom on it to make a really cool nose) and you then dont tend to have the situation where they have to pick off toppings to eat the pizza (or refuse point blank to eat it) if they are fussy eaters.

suggestions for the faces could include:
use olives for eyes
use mushrooms for the nose
use pepper slices for hair
cherry tomatoes for lips
sweetcorn for freckles
tuna for stubble...?!?!

Pitta Pizzas 

Finally if you want to lose the Bollywood thing or have no Naan bread to hand you can always do these pizzas on pitta bread but you are likely to need to grill them rather than bake them in the oven so you might want to limit the toppings a little to stop the top getting burnt and the bottom staying cold.