Posted on January 16, 2014 by Jenny Cromack

This week’s recipes are all about tomatoes. Tomatoes are cheap, healthy and are very versatile so can be used in a wide variety of dishes. The Stuffed Tomatoes can be used as a starter or a side dish in your meal. The Homemade Tomato Passata recipe gives you a healthy tomato sauce that can be added to sauces, soups and stews and stored in the freezer or fridge for easy use. And finally the Classic Tomato Coup can be made in bulk and enjoyed for lunches and dinners a great option to keep in your fridge. Enjoy!

Stuffed Tomatoes

Kcal 76, Protein 2, Carbs 9 fat 4, Sat 1g

Serves 4

• 1 slice day-old bread
• 1 tsp chopped thyme
• 1 tbsp snipped chive or chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• garlic clove, crushed
• 4 large tomatoes
• 4tsp wholegrain mustard

1. A big platter of these tomatoes goes well with grilled meat or fish, or serve them as a starter
2. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Toast the bread, then remove the crusts and break it up into the food processor to make crumbs. Add the thyme, chives or parsley, oil and garlic, then pulse briefly to mix.
3. Halve the tomatoes and put in one layer in a shallow ovenproof dish. Spread each cut side with a little mustard, then sprinkle a little of the crumb mix on the top. Bake for 15-20 mins until the topping is crunchy and lightly browned.

Homemade Tomato Passata

Kcal 51, Protein 2g, Carbs 6g, fat 2g, Sat 0g

Makes 800ml

• 1kg tomatoes, halved or quartered
• 6 garlic cloves, halved
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp caster sugar

1. Put the tomatoes, garlic and olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Cover and cook for 10 mins, shaking occasionally, until the tomatoes have collapsed completely.
2. Season generously and add the sugar. Remove the lid and boil for 5 mins until the garlic is soft. Allow to cool, then sieve the pulp. You can now pour into freezer-proof containers and freeze for up to 3 months, or pour into jars and keep in the fridge for up to 1 week. Or use straight away in sauces, soups and stews

Tomato soup

123 kcalories, protein 4g, carbohydrate 13g, fat 7g, saturated fat 1g,

Serves 4 lunches or 6 starters

• 1 medium onion
• 1 small carrot
• 1 celery stick
• 1 – 1 1/4kg/2lb-3lb of ripe tomatoes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 squirts of tomato purée (about 2 tsp)
• a good pinch of sugar
• 2 bay leaves
• 1.2 litres/ 2 pints hot vegetable stock 

1. Firstly, prepare your vegetables. You need 1-1.25kg/2lb 4oz-2lb 12oz ripe tomatoes. cut each tomato into quarters and slice off any hard cores (they don’t soften during cooking and you’d get hard bits in the soup at the end). Peel 1 medium onion and 1 small carrot and chop them into small pieces. Chop 1 celery stick roughly the same size.
2. Spoon 2 tbsp olive oil into a large heavy-based pan and heat it over a low heat. tip in the onion, carrot and celery and mix them together with a wooden spoon. Still with the heat low, cook the vegetables until they’re soft and faintly coloured. This should take about 10 minutes and you should stir them two or three times so they cook evenly and don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
3. Add the tomato purée, then stir it around so it turns the vegetables red. Shoot the tomatoes in off the chopping board, sprinkle in a good pinch of sugar and grind in a little black pepper. Tear 2 bay leaves into a few pieces and throw them into the pan. Stir to mix everything together, put the lid on the pan and let the tomatoes stew over a low heat for 10 minutes until they shrink down in the pan and their juices flow nicely. From time to time, give the pan a good shake – this will keep everything well mixed.
4. Slowly pour in the 1.2 litres/ 2 pints of hot stock stirring at the same time to mix it with the vegetables. Turn up the heat as high as it will go and wait until everything is bubbling, then turn the heat down to low again and put the lid back on the pan. Cook gently for 25 minutes, stirring a couple of times. At the end of cooking the tomatoes will have broken down and be very slushy looking.
5. Remove the pan from the heat, take the lid off and stand back for a few seconds or so while the steam escapes, then fish out the pieces of bay leaf and throw them away. Ladle the soup into your blender until it’s about three-quarters full, fit the lid on tightly and turn the machine on full. Blitz until the soup’s smooth pour the puréed soup into a large bowl. Repeat with the soup that’s left in the pan. the soup may now be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost before reheating.
6. Pour the puréed soup back into the pan and reheat it over a medium heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally until you can see bubbles breaking gently on the surface. Taste a spoonful and add a pinch or two of salt if you think the soup needs it, plus more pepper and sugar if you like. If the colour’s not a deep enough red for you, plop in another teaspoon of tomato purée and stir until it dissolves.