Tetra-pak Tomato Goodness

I did the classic Headwound (HW) thing last night; I got some great products to try but then came home from work starving, used them quickly then devoured them without taking any snaps. My friends call me a HW as I am forgetful; I did once receive a real headwound (20 stitches worth!) so the name is fitting and I have to admit, I am forgetful!

Hungry and craving something other than falafel (I have overdosed on this lately) I rushed home, pulled out the tomato passata that I was given by the lovely people at RH Amar and quickly chopped up some onions and garlic, browned them lightly in extra virgin olive oil, threw in some of the sauce and loaded it with oregano and basil, added a dash of salt and pepper and added a few chilli flakes for a bit of a spicy note –the final touch was one tiny teaspoon of sugar which made it complete.

The lovely red stuff comes straight from Italy and is apparently the number one selling brand there, which can’t be a bad thing! Need to ask my aunty’s what they use.


I threw the final sauce over some spaghetti for the J-Lo & I to eat. Baby Jacob watched and screamed as we ate; poor kid only gets to eat unsalted mushy stuff and we washed it down with some organic Italian juices I bought at the BBC Good Food Show the past weekend, a yummy prickly pear juice.


I only realised I didn’t take pic when we were putting all of the dishes away but thought I would take a snap of the carton which is going in the fridge for us to have more sauce this weekend. Instead of our spaghetti feast you get a pic of the romantic spaghetti eating moment from the Disney doggy movie Lady & the Tramp – awwwh puppy dog romance.


Thx again to the Cirio peeps. Will try and take pics this weekend when Uncle Duncan comes for dinner.

The pearls & the family businessThe annual tomato sauce factory was set up this year again at Zia's abode. My nephew, sporting his green pearly beads again, this time in green, assisted; last year he was whisked away to the park to not interfere with serious Sicilian business.

He was very meticulous at his tasks and was very well behaved, well done PJ. At one point I was in charge of the home made grinding contraption which is about 25 years old, is most likely unsafe to use electrically and felt like it would explode at any moment (there are strange noises and pieces that look like bathroom plumbing sticking out of it) but who cares about health and safety when Uncle Frank guarantees that it is sound!

Luckily it made it through but I was hesitant along with the other workers on the day to comment as I may not get to eat any of the delicious results or worse I could be written out of the will, and I would love to get my hands on that machine when the Lord takes the tomato chiefs! It is a work of art.

After a few hours of jokes, mean looks from 'the boss' and lots of tomato splatter, five families have their delicious supplies for a year. If anyone would like a jar I am selling them for £10 a piece -cheaper than Carluccios'. I haven't tasted this year's batch but am hoping for a special delivery soon.

Attack of the killer tomato!Tomato season rolled around again this year, this time I was lucky enough to be in the country to participate in the festivities - albeit very briefly. The tomato churning contraption was brought out from the cellar - complete with lawnmower motor, wheel and rubber band that was spraying tomato sauce on my arm, wooden base and more bells and whistles that my uncle added to his trusty machine.I think it made it through the whole day and without any mishaps. I do believe that my cousin had a new machine in a box on the day but 'the boss' (pic below of the boss) will probably not allow us to use it until this one blows up. So they day went with washing, grinding and scooping tomatoes lovingly into jars. It is a family tradition and one that ours will probably do forever. Even Bill the neighbour came to chat with the workers. But there was no break room or break schedule ;)

On a side note this work is long and hard and our family in Sicily do not even do this anymore?! They buy the peeled and canned tomatoes straight from Modena. I wonder if they think we are archaic?

But it is worth it all in the end, the tomato sauce the Dolce and the Palazzolo family produce is delicious, fresh, organic and divine!
An impromptu break by the workers...stop laughing before the boss sees you!

Sugo with soul
Sugo (tomato sauce) as made in the Dolce kitchen.
The basis of all Italian cooking, tomato sauce. From the lonely red tomato you can make an abundance of recipes that are traditional to Italian cooking. Boiled, peeled, fried, baked, sliced and diced the tomato provides the base for some of my favourite Italian foods -pizza, pasta and bruschetta. The meatballs are also ones that were made by Momma Dolce and have been in demand in the UK and Canada. They were almost frozen and delivered by airplane to some demanding customers, but I wasn't sure if I could explain to customs if I did get caught what I was doing with frozen meatballs in my case?! Meatball secrets will come in another post.

Anyway -tomatoes are supposed to be great for your health. So learn how to make a nice tomato sauce, it is easy - just use fresh ripe tomatoes or buy canned tomatoes from the shop (with no extra ingredients) saute some onion and garlic, add the tomatoes a little bit of water, salt, pepper, basil and oregano and let simmer until smooth (about an hour)....you may need to add a little sugar to remove some of the acidity but try and buy good quality canned tomatoes and voila, a great sauce is ready for all your cooking needs.

Hard to believe but tomatoes came to Europe in the sixteenth century and were generally avoided because they were believed to be poisonous...luckily the Europeans figured out what to do with the little red rounders.