I Say Tomato

It’s been a long time coming but the tomatoes are ripening all at once and the cupboard is filling up fast - 16 at the latest count. The recent warm spell has done the trick. I love Autumn with its mild days and soft light. Time to plan for winter and spring and my wife has already put some Dutch iris and tulip bulbs into the ground. Cineraria will be going in shortly for some winter colour.

Getting back to the tomatoes, I don’t want to waste any of them. I enjoy them served up as bruschetta, on lightly toasted ciabatta bread with shaved parmesan topped with tomato, a little finely chopped raw red onion, salt pepper and some roughly torn fresh basil drizzled with olive oil. So simple and delicious.

A staple pasta dish I cook is a great way to use up tomatoes and the sauce can be made ahead and frozen for future use. Onion, garlic, dry white wine, salt, cracked black pepper, olive oil, chopped tomatoes and some gentle simmering is all you need to make a lovely sauce base for seafood served up with a pasta of your choice.

Adapted from a spaghetti alle vongole (clams) recipe in an Italian cookbook we own, I use prawns instead of the clams and fettuccine instead of spaghetti. Lots of fresh parsley and basil from the garden is added at the end of cooking to finish the dish.

Try it once and you'll soon find this recipe will become a staple of yours too.

Fettuccine with prawns, tomatoes and white wine.

Ingredients

4 tbsp olive oil

1 brown onion, very finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped

400g chopped home-grown tomatoes*

2/3 cup dry white wine

1 cup of water

300g prawns peeled and de-veined (or substitute seafood of your choice, but heck, you can leave it out and go veg if you like)

Fettuccine (or pasta of your choice)

Good hand full of chopped parsley leaves

Good hand full of fresh basil (sweet, lemon or a combination of the two) roughly torn

Salt and cracked pepper to taste

Method

Heat oil in heavy based saucepan, add onion and gently saute stirring frequently for 3 minutes. Add garlic and saute for an extra 2 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes, wine and water. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, give it a stir and turn the heat low. Cover pan and gently simmer the for 40 minutes stirring occassionally. The original recipe says simmer for 20 minutes but I found the extra time really draws out the flavour of the tomatoes and delicate sweetness of the onion.

In the last 20 minutes of cooking boil water and cook pasta according to packet instructions. Drain pasta when cooked. Raise the heat on the sauce and add prawns, cook until they're done (should only take about 5 minutes).

Stir in parsley and torn basil. Serve with the pasta and a glass of dry white wine.

Some home-grown tomatoes prior to going under the knife.

Cheers.

*This dish works really well with good quality tinned tomatoes too. I prefer Annalisa brand Italian peeled tomatoes.