Ahhh, the humble tomato. Fruit of a thousand uses, vegetable of a thousand recipes. Yes, before anyone kicks up a stink, it is possible for a plant to fall into both categories. Even if the tomato's reputation as the "Fruit of Love" actually resulted from a drunk Italian chef slurring his words to a deaf poncy Frenchman who heard "Pomme de'Moors" (apple of the Moors) as "Pomme d'Amore" (apple of love), you must admit it's a pretty rad ingredient.
When The Bloke and I first started seeing each other, we would oftentimes stay at one anothers houses (some 150-odd-kilometres apart) over the weekend. And oftentimes, we would cook vast quantities of food for one another, a sort of culinary-love-dedication that only the heady days of a new romance can produce (i.e. before "what's for dinner, my love?" is met with scowling declarations of impending divorce and both parties having it out with smashed bottles and box cutters... OK, sorry, too many daytime movies).
During this time there were many meals that were culinary triumphs - a selection of curries made from scratch using recipes from Nilgiris restaurant and cooked by me at 10pm at night as the bloke caught an after-work train up from his home city; a perfectly cooked salmon steak with a lemon feta sauce cooked by the bloke after a trip to the Sydney Fish Markets; and Asian-influenced vegan dumplings constructed with silken tofu and a multitude of herbs and spices, steamed then served in a ginger-soy infused broth. There were also, of course, some meals that didn't work out so well - the time that we attempted to barbeque potato slices using the ancient grill in the bloke's backyard; and an attempt at repeating the dumpling recipe above only to have the dumpling-wrappers stick to the bamboo steamer then disintegrate completely, resulting in a very angry Bitch and a very confused Bloke. But nonetheless, like any worthwhile cooking adventure, both "failures" were memorable as learning experiences.
What's all this got to do with tomatoes? Well, reminiscences aside, my favourite meal from that time, without a doubt, would have to be a simple vegetable pasta sauce which The Bloke concocted one cold Friday evening when there was nothing better to do than stay at home, eat and be merry with the end-of-week veggies floating around in the bottom of the fridge. Like all good meals, it wasn't so much the content as the context that made it special - or, in less wanky terms, hell, who wouldn't want to be presented with a massive bowl of steaming pasta and a kiss on the cheek whilst curled up on the couch with the heating on after a long train trip south? Especially when the presenter is someone you, you know, really, really, really, really dig.
If you're not in the process of shacking up with someone (or you have a lot of love to share around), this recipe will make enough pasta to serve three or four people as part of a meal with garlic bread, salad and wine. It's especially good to use as a demonstration that you can just "whip together" a meal out of the ingredients you have lying around the place, thus demonstrating your flexibility AND thriftiness (just be careful not to cook this for clucky people you DON'T want to have children with, because they will surely interpret your newfound home-making skills as a plus for potential paternity. Ewwww.)
Ingredients
Olive oil
Six large ripe tomatoes, chopped (leave the skin and seeds, you sooks)
One brown onion, chopped finely
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
Assortment of "crisper veggies" totalling about three cups
- e.g.:
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1/3 red capsicum, chopped
1/3 green capsicum, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
6 mushrooms, quartered
1/4 broccoli, cut into floreats
1 Lebanese (long) eggplant, chopped
1 spring of marjoram and 1 sprig of oregano - or 1/2 tablespoon of dried Italian herbs
2 bay leaves
Tabasco
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
300g egg fettuccine (or long pasta of your choice)
Basil leaves and excellent parmesan cheese to serve
Method
1. Place a large pot of water on the stove and heat until boiling.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large fry pan over a medium flame. Add onion, cook, stirring, until translucent.
3. Add garlic to pan and cook for about thirty seconds, then add the carrot and tomatoes and herbs and cook, stirring, for about five minutes, or until the tomato softens and goes pulpy.
4. Stir through the zucchini, mushrooms, capsicum and eggplant and cook for about five minutes.
5. Add Tabasco to taste (we like it HOT), then simmer for around twenty minutes or until vegetables are soft.
6. Throw half a handful of sea salt into the water-pot (which should be boiling by now) then chuck in your pasta, give it a stir and allow it to cook until al dente. While this is happening, add broccoli to the pan with the sauce in it and simmer for another five minutes.
7. Drain the pasta, reserving about half a cup of the cooking water. Add the pasta and water to the vegetable sauce and allow to cook for another minute or two. Remove from heat. Present to your intended in a big bowl garnished with parmesan cheese and freshly torn basil, accompanied by a cheap and cheerful merlot, garlic bread and salad. Sit back and enjoy the fruits of the vine and your labour, but hopefully not your loins. Yet.
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