Category: tomato

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competition food tomato

competition – win a cirio hamper stuffed with tomato goodness [closed]

This competition is now closed. Many thanks for all your entries, there were some brilliant ideas and inspiration! The winner has been notified by email.

Cirio Hamper competition

CIRIO is Italy’s leading tomato producer and has been authentically Italian since its foundation in 1856. CIRIO harvests only the finest tomatoes from ten regions of Italy, including Puglia, Lazio, Emilia-Romagna and Campania.

With over 150 years of experience behind them, they really know their stuff. Not convinced?  Enter this competition to win one of their hampers and try them for yourself. This hamper is packed with £25 of amazing CIRIO tomato products, to keep you in pasta sauces, pizza toppings and lasagnes for weeks. To be in with a chance to win this bounty, just comment on this post with an answer to the following question:

What’s your favourite tomato-based recipe?

  • Competition closes 8pm 30th September. Comments posted after then won’t be counted.
  • I’ll pick the winners at random using some fancy random number generator.
  • Entrants must be 18 years or older.
  • If the winner hasn’t replied within two weeks, someone else will get it.
  • Only people from the UK please. Additionally, I’ll only post to a UK address.

Good luck!

Categories
beef cheese food lasagna lasagne mince tomato

lasagne al forno

Lasagne has to be one of my favourite dinners. If I’m stuck for what to cook, it always pleases a crowd and satisfies. I like a lasagne with gutsy tomato sauce, plenty of layers of pasta and a bubbling, cheesy topping. I’ve tried all sorts, with Marmite in, with marmalade in, with soy sauce in… this version is about as traditional as I make mine.

I used some CIRIO tomatoes in this one, a mix of thick passata, tomato puree and the amazing Pizzassimo sauce.

On a whim, I picked up a jar of pre-made white sauce. Before I knew how to make bechamel I would use Ragu white sauce. I don’t know why I went for this; I haven’t tried it in maybe 12 years. But I was really pleased with the taste of it, slightly peppery and perfectly creamy. I didn’t dare look at the ingredients list but if I was running short on time I’d definitely use it again.

Looking for other lasagne recipes? Try Summer veg lasagne or this more full-on lasagne recipe.

Lasagne al forno (serves 6 with a green salad):

1 onion, finely chopped

500g beef mince

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon tomato puree

1 jar tomato passata

½ tin Pizzassimo sauce

500ml beef stock

1 jar Ragu white sauce

About 10 lasagne pasta sheets

Big handful of grated cheese. Yes, cheddar will do

  1. Get a large saucepan on a low heat, add a splash of oil and fry the onion gently for about 10 minutes. When softened, crank up the heat and add the mince, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Add the garlic, tomatoes and stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Check for seasoning and take off the heat to cool slightly.
  2. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Get an ovenproof dish and start with a layer of pasta. Add a thin layer of mince mixture, half the white sauce and top with pasta. Add more mince, more pasta and top with white sauce. Grate cheese over the top and bake for about 30 minutes until bubbling and golden. Leave out of the oven to set for a couple of minutes, it’ll be easier to cut.
Categories
bread food olives tomato

tomato and black olive calzone

I’ve mentioned at length how the prospect of a slimy sandwich at lunchtime fills me with despair. So any opportunity to have something a little different just lifts my day. Flush with fruity black olives from the lovely people at Taste of Spain, and a wealth of tinned tomatoes from Cirio, I rustled up a calzone.

I made the dough a little thick, and so it was very filling! The olives were sweet and had definite wine-like flavours that were complex and interesting. For the tomatoes I used Cirio Pizzassimo, which might be my new favourite thing-that-comes-in-a-tin. It’s a pizza-style tomato sauce, but thick and herby. I tried it cold out of the tin and was amazed at how delicious it was. And hot it was even better! This is definitely going to become a regular in my store cupboard for quick pasta sauces, pizza toppings and ragus.

Tomato and black olive calzone (makes 2):

325g plain flour

7g salt

½ teaspoon sugar

7g sachet yeast

About 250ml tepid water

4 tablespoons olive oil

8 Spanish black olives, halved

½ tin Cirio Pizzassimo sauce

Large handful of grated Cheddar

  1. Combine the flour, salt, sugar and yeast and gradually add the water until you get a soft dough. Knead for 10 minutes, cover with olive oil and leave in a warm place to rise for about an hour.
  2. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Knock back the dough and divide into two. Shape and roll into two rounds and flatten out. Cover half of each base with tomato sauce, dot with olives and a sprinkle of cheese. Fold over and wrap – I don’t know the proper way to seal a calzone so I use a Cornish pasty crimped style. Back for 30 – 35 mins until golden and cooked through.
Categories
food pesto pizza tomato

slow-roast tomato and pesto pizza

One of my favourite things about food blogging is finding new people who have other ideas that inspire you. I happened upon Bangers & Mash, and wouldn’t you know it – it revolves around family food which is a constant topic of mine. Via a link on the Brabantia Life website I found her recipe for slow-roast tomato pizza. I’ve made pizzas a whole bunch of times, so it was the slow-roast tomatoes that had me interested.

Gotta leave yourself a whole bunch of time to get these tomatoes roasted, and I’ve added a few more stages in here to make tomato sauce, pizza base and pesto, but using shop-bought substitutes for these would work great.

Thanks for the inspiration Vanesther!

Slow-roast tomato and pesto pizza (serves 2 with a side salad):

6 tomatoes

A ball of mozzarella

For the base:

325g plain flour

7g salt

½ teaspoon sugar

7g sachet yeast

About 250ml tepid water

4 tablespoons olive oil

For the tomato sauce:

½ tin tomatoes

1 clove garlic

Balsamic vinegar

For the pesto:

Bunch of basil, leaves and stalks

75g pine nuts

50g parmesan

Zest of ½ a lemon

Extra virgin olive oil

  1. Turn the oven to 100°C. Pop the tomatoes on a baking tray, drizzle with a little oil and roast for about 6 – 7 hours, until shrivelled and glistening.
  2. While they bake, stir together the dry dough ingredients, then gradually add water until it comes together to a stretchy dough. Knead for a further 10 minutes, drizzle with oil and cover. Leave for an hour to rise.
  3. After an hour, punch it back and then spread out into a thin round. Get the oven on as hot as it will go. If you have a pizza stone, put this in too to heat up.
  4. In a small frying pan, add a splash of oil and the garlic. After 10 seconds add the tomatoes and put on as high as it will go. Sprinkle with vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper and allow to reduce until getting thick (about 4 – 7 mins). Push through a sieve into a bowl and allow to cool slightly.
  5. In a pestle and mortar bash up all the pesto ingredients until you have a thick paste.
  6. Transfer your dough to the pizza stone, smear over the tomato sauce, dot with pesto and torn-up mozzarella. Arrange the tomatoes on the top and bake for about 8 – 10 mins, or until puffy and crisp. Eat immediately!
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