Italian Inspiration

At the end of Summer preserve the last crop of juicy tomatoes and glut of zucchinis with some Italian inspiration.

We have many Italian neighbours and friends here in the Vale - a never ending resource for good food ideas. Italian style preserving uses simple methods and the best quality ingredients - extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and salt - to bring out the natural flavour of vegetables.

Dried tomatoes are perfect for salads, pizza, pasta and tarts. Pickled zucchini, eggplant, artichoke, peppers and fennel are great for picnics, and create the ideal appetiser … classic antipasti! Versatile bottled tomatoes make an excellent addition to the pantry as instant pasta topping, filling for ravioli or lasagne and for use in the countless recipes calling for tinned tomatoes. Homemade Passata is the best tomato base for soups, stews and sauces.

Oven Dried tomatoes
Scoop out the tomato seeds, place the halves cut side up on a baking tray lined with baking paper, sprinkle with salt, pepper and olive oil. Place the tray in a preheated oven 100 degrees Celcius for 12 hours, adjust the temperature depending on how quickly they are drying out.

When the tomatoes are dry and cooled pack into a sterilized jar, add some garlic slivers, cover with olive oil and seal. Store in a cool, dry, dark place for up to 3 months, refrigerate once the jar is opened.

Pickled Vegetables
A common Italian method for pickling vegetables such as eggplants, peppers, zucchinis, artichokes and fennel, is to salt the vegetables first. Salting draws out moisture, bitterness and helps the vegetable to take up the vinegar for better preservation. This can be done by sprinkling the vegetables with salt and leaving to absorb for a few hours, or lightly blanch the vegetables in boiling salted water, then cool. Place the prepared salted vegetables in sterilised jars and fully submerge in vinegar, then top with olive oil, seal, store in a cook dark place, refrigerate after opening.

• Preparing the vegetables for pickling: cut to your preferred size then cook until slightly soft, for example: you only need to lightly blanch fennel; boil eggplant for a few minutes; zucchinis are good when oven roasted for a deeper flavour; peppers are best skinned and deseeded; leave artichokes whole but peel off any tough outer leaves and trim the bottom then rub with lemon juice.

• Pickling vinegars are flavoured to taste. Some popular choices are peppercorns, lemon rind, sugar, chillies, bay leaves and herbs. Boil the vinegar with your chosen flavours, reduce, cool and pour over the vegetables.

Bottled tomatoes
With a sharp knife, make a cross at the base of each tomato, then plunge into boiling water for ten seconds, remove and peel, the skin will slip off easily.
Pack the peeled tomatoes into jars, put a tablespoon of brine in the bottom of the jar then top up with tomato juice. Make your own juice by blitzing a batch of tomatoes in a food processor, sieve and use the watery juice for covering your bottled tomatoes saving the pulp to start your Passata.

Preserving –
• If you have a preserving kit, follow the instructions. First placing sealing rings on preserving jars, add the tomatoes filling to the rim, press down firmly and fill with tomato juice, fasten the lids with clips and process.

• If you don’t have a kit, fill sterilised screw top jars and place in a large saucepan with a rack at the base, the jars shouldn’t touch each other, bring slowly to the boil for around an hour and keep boiling for around 25 minutes, let stand for an hour to cool in the water, then remove and sit on a wooden surface for 48 hours.
• Store in a cool dark spot for up to 2 years.

Passata
Passata is a tomato sauce made in a wide range of styles from the complex flavours of a slow cooked sauce to a light fresh uncooked pulp.

The version I make is simply blitzed fresh tomatoes that can be used right away or preserved. Store some in the fridge for a few weeks, freeze a batch and then bottle more for a year round supply.

Slit the base of the tomatoes and boil briefly to loosen the skins, then peel and process in a food processor. Or my preferred method is to soak the tomatoes in hot water to loosen the skin, then push through a hand food mill, this separates most of the skin and seeds from the pulp and makes a chunky sauce, you could run through a sieve if you prefer a smoother finish.

• Bottle Passata using the same method described for bottled tomatoes.