Isn’t it funny how early childhood experiences can affect you later in life? Or in this case, non-experiences? A few months ago I was approached by Cirio to do a review of their new products. The thought of eating tinned tomatoes filled me with trepidation. Why? Well, my mother never cooked with them! Ever a good role model, she always cooked with fresh vegetables, even tomatoes which were quite labour intensive; you have to submerge them in boiling water, skin, seed and chop them.
After much thought I took the plunge and gave Cirio the green light. After all, what kind of gourmet am I if I am not willing to try all things food-wise? My plan was a cunning one. I’ll make some Spaghetti Bolognese for Neil and something else for me. That way I only get to take a bite of the stuff and make up my mind. There was a slight glitch in the plan though. By the time we sat down for dinner there was barely enough meat on Neil’s plate and he looked at me questioningly. Sheepishly I told him I had a bit of a munching session, it really was that good.
Usually I prepare my Spaghetti Bolognese with tomato purée, but the chopped tomatoes made the whole dish mellower, more flavoursome and downright delicious. The tomatoes came in a tetra-pack so thankfully there wasn’t that “canny” taste that tinned goods usually have. It is first prize to eat fresh tomatoes in season but to be honest, I used to buy tomatoes throughout the year and when they were grossly out of season their taste left much to be desired.
The tomato purée came in cute tubs and I used them in stews and sauces. Everything came out perfectly fine and I truly cannot fault the purée except that it will be even more handy if the container portions were even smaller than they are currently.
Brushetta on fresh bread using roasted garlic and tomatoes you can’t beat it
any pasta dish
Pizza with a lovely tomato base!