This bread used the basic strait dough method I previously described. The recipe diverges from the herb bread by first omitting the 2 tablespoons of herbs and adding about 4-6 table spoons of sun dried tomatoes diced very fine with about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil (or in my case, I just threw those together in a food processor and pulsed until they were chopped enough). The baking time was very close to 40 minutes at 375 on a cast iron griddle pan.
Thanks to Nicole for the suggestion of drying all the extra grape tomatoes that were left over this season!
In my original discussion of making tomato pesto, I explained how little effort there was. Now I will show you.
This video is not edited in so far as i have not cut out segments. However, the duration was 60 minutes and no one likes to watch a pot boil so I sped it up a bit … 60 times is more accurate. Thus, the hour long process takes about a minute!
For those more interested in how I produced the video than the making of the pesto, here is the trick …
Using ffmpeg, grab every 60th frame. Store these in a temporary directory. Then, use ffmpeg again to take those frames and make them back into a movie. You could use the second step to make a time lapse movie of almost anything – in place of the video frames, you’d just use photos from your digital camera.
Destiny is what you make it but in the case of tomato pesto, I think destiny is the right fry pan.
I don’t know any other way to explain that a 15" cast iron pan can take full heat and deliver it to one gallon of tomato puree along with 2 minced onions, 3 tablespoons of crushed garlic, and various seasonings without burning or boiling over. Thirty minutes later the heat is cut back to half and a little stirring and that same pan take no mind to being ignored for a quarter hour more. It is only in the final fifteen minutes that it expects any attention of consequence. After just an hour, the pan gives up one quart of the most amazing tomato pesto with layer upon layer of flavor.
This pesto is a versitile paste that can be go solo or ride shotgun. It can be combined with some fresh cilantro and diced tomatoes to offer up a killer salsa. Added to a can of crushed tomatoes and the resulting pasta sauce stands proud on any country table in Tuscany. The thought of using a spoonful in a Bloody Mary on a bright Sunday morning gives me goose bumps.
So, how it possible that such a pan, in a kitchen, next to acres and acres of free tomatoes can be interpreted as anything other than destiny?
While the goal of the weekend was “kitchen cabinet drawers” that does not mean it was all sawdust and jazz. Zen and I took a Saturday morning in Onacock where I stopped into the North Street Market for some cheese and an espresso. Then it was a lap down to the harbor and back. Sunday afternoon, Zen and I walked to the back side of the farm property where they are growing grape tomatoes. The workers had been through and done their first picking so I gathered up some drops – yes “drops”. I came back with 5 lbs and that was just after walking the first 100 ft of one row. My guess is the whole “patch” is about 30 acres. If you want some relative math, check out my calculations for the field of round tomatoes.
It starts with a few ripe tomatoes …. well, more than a few …. well, A WHOLE DARN TRASH CAN OF THEM !
Now that the tomatoes are ripening faster than anyone could pick them and the commercial growers are only interested in the green ones (so they can gas them, ship them, and they’ll arrive un-bruised and ready for sale), it’s time for me to work on my tomato sauce / spaghetti sauce / tomato pesto recipe.
It starts with 6-8 plastic grocery bags that I stuff in my pocket before taking Zen for the morning walk. Once we arrive at the end of the field, Zen hangs out for about 15 minutes while I pick out just the best of the ripe red tomatoes. to be honest, if I were a little less picky (bad pun) the whole ordeal would last no more than 5 minutes because there are THAT MANY tomatoes passed over by the commercial pickers. One the bags are over flowing, I set them at the end of a row or off to the side and Zen and I head back. Later, I take the lawn mower over with a kitchen waste basket and fill it to the brim and then stuff the rest of the bags anywhere I can. Note: I made the mistake on the first day of filling two kitchen bins and it took me forever to process them all. I vowed, "never again". Now I am more critical of the tomatoes I choose to the point that i pass over literally hundreds of "left to rot" fruit.
Once back at the farmhouse, the labor begins. I wash all of the tomatoes in the sink – they just fit. Then I cut out the core, quarter them and run them through a food processer on batches; making tomato puree. This gets bagged in 1 gallon bags and frozen for later this fall and winter when I have time.
I’ve taken two of the 1-gallon purees and started to create my recipes. The first batch was turned into a lemon – tomato – basil pesto. It is amazing and crisp and refreshing. It will go great over linguine (al dente of course). The second batch was a more traditional tomato pesto with onion, garlic, basil, and course ground white and black pepper. I balance the tomatoes with a combination of raw cane sugar and sea salt to adjust for any variation in the concentration of tomato flavor. As you can see in the last frames, I cook the sauce down until it is so thick you push it around in the pan and it stays.
The cooking down process is simplified greatly with the chuck wagon sized cast iron pan. This one is 15" across and the combination of 360 cubic inches of volume and 175 square inches of surface area allows me to turn the heat to high for the first 30 minutes with very little attention on my part. The last 30 minutes requires less heat and more attention as the liquid evaporates and the sauce thickens quickly.
This bread used the basic strait dough method I previously described. The recipe diverges from the herb bread by first omitting the 2 tablespoons of herbs and adding about 4-6 table spoons of sun dried tomatoes diced very fine with about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil (or in my case, I just threw those together in a food processor and pulsed until they were chopped enough). The baking time was very close to 40 minutes at 375 on a cast iron griddle pan.
