What to do with all those tomatoes?!!!  We had bowls of split cherry tomatoes and tomatoes with other blemishes that I just couldn’t throw out.  Then I found a recipe for tomato bread at work (Cardiac Rehab at Mercy Medical Center) and have had a lot of fun adapting it to what we have on hand and trying out new herb combinations.  Here is the basic recipe followed by my adaptations.  The original calls for making the entire bread in a food processor.  I didn’t use ours (it’s pretty old..) and I enjoy making bread with a modified traditional method (ie I use a mixer and enjoy forming my own loaves..) Enjoy!  Joni

Zesty Tomato Bread

1 package active dry yeast 

1/4 cup very warm water

3/4 cup pureed fresh or crushed canned tomatoes

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 Tbsp sugar (or honey)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp each dried basil, oregano, and parsley, crumbled

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 3/ cups flour

1. Disolve yeast in water in a small bowl until creamy, about 5 minutes.

2.  In the workbowl of a food processor, combine tomato, garlic, sugar, salt, basil, oregano, parsley and oil.  Whirl until smooth.  Add yeast mixture and flour, process until dough forms a ball.  Transfer dough to lightly oiled bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake until bottom sounds hollow when tapped, about 40 minutes.  Cool.  Yield: 10 servings.

Nutrition Info: per serving:

Calories: 165  Fat  3.1 g.  saturated fat  0.4 g  cholesterol 0   sodium 183 mg

Experiment 1:

First I blended all my tomatoes, which was about 4 cups of puree, to that I added 1/2 cup of garlic cloves.  Then I used:

2 cups of tomato/garlic puree

1/2 cup each fresh basil, oregano and parsley (including the root of the small new parsley)

1/2 cup water

1 Tbsp yeast

1 Tbsp honey

1/4 cup olive oil

2 heaping Tbsp gluten flour (gluten flour improves the texture of whole grain breads)

3 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup pumpernickel rye flour

2 1/2 cups white flour (whatever amount needed to get a nice soft dough)

My method:

Soften yeast in warm water and honey.

Add to tomato puree, oil and blend.  Slowly add gluten flour and rye and whole wheat flour.  Add white flour until a soft dough forms.  Knead 10 minutes in mixer. Allow to rise and bake as above.

Experiment 2:

2 cups of tomato garlic puree

1-12″ stem of fresh rosemary, adding only the ‘leaves’ to the batter (you may want to add more)

1/2 cup warm water

1 Tbsp yeast

1 Tbsp honey

2 heaping Tbsp gluten flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

3+ cups white flour

Same method as above.  I made some of these into rolls, which would be nice for the Fall holidays, some into loaves for sandwiches.

The combinations for herbs is limitless – just keep the liquid and dry ingredients in porportion.

• 1- 1/2 cups tomatillos
• 1 -1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 tsp margarine (or butter)
• 3- 3/4 cups whole kernel corn
• 1 cup peas
• 4 cups low sodium chicken (or veggie) broth
• 1 Tbsp cilantro
• 4 oz. diced green chilis
• 1/4 cup spinach, chopped
• 1 tsp sugar

Directions:  Saute tomatillos, onion and garlic with margarine/butter for five minutes.  Remove to food processor and add peas and cilantro. Puree to chunky.  Pour in pan and add chicken stock, diced green chilies, chopped spinach, corn and sugar.  Heat and serve.

Yeild: 8 servings

1 package (12 ounce) firm silken tofu
1 can (15 ounce) solid pumpkin
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Preheat oven to 425°F. Drain tofu and puree in a blender or food processor until smooth. Whisk together the pumpkin and sugars in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the spices and pureed tofu. Pour the mixture into the pie shell and bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. Lower the oven heat to 350°F and bake an additional 40 to 50 minutes, until filling is set and pie crust cook throughout. Chill before serving.

Yield: 8 slices. Serving size: 1 slice. Per serving: 220 calories, 7 g fat, 2 g sat fat, 5 g protein, 34 g carbohydrate, 145 mg sodium, 0 mg cholesterol.

Source:  Soyfoods.com

1 lb pumpkin or other winter squash; to 1-1/2 lb
1/2 t grated nutmeg
1  t  kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 T butter
2 T all-purpose flour
2 C  hot skim milk
1 T fresh sage; finely chopped or 2 t dried
6 T grated parmesan cheese plus additional cheese for passing
12 sheets fresh lasagna noodles 5 by 7 inches each, enough for 36 ravioli
Cornmeal

Cut pumpkin in half, remove seeds and place, cut side down, in a baking pan with 1/2-inch water. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven about 40 minutes or until very tender. (Microwaving takes less than half the time.) Scoop out flesh and puree with nutmeg, salt and pepper. You should have about 11/4 cups.

Meanwhile, put butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir a few minutes. Add milk slowly and bring to a bare
simmer, whisking constantly. Cook until thickened and you can no longer taste any flour, about 10 minutes. Add sage, cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and put plastic wrap on the surface to prevent skin from forming.

Spoon out pumpkin puree in 2 rows across and 3 rows down on one lasagna sheet using 1 teaspoon per ravioli. Brush another sheet with water. Gently put the second sheet on the first, wet side down. Run a ravioli cutter down the middle between the two rows and then across, sealing each ravioli with a 3/8-inch border of dough all around. Without a ravioli cutter, press down with the side of your hand along the rows between the fillings, removing any air pockets. Seal with your fingers and cut ravioli free with a knife Then crimp with the tines of a fork. Repeat with remaining pasta and filling until you have 36 ravioli. (To prevent sticking put ravioli, as you make them, on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal.)

Bring a pot with 4 quarts of water and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil over high heat. While water heats, gently reheat cream sauce. Add ravioli to cooking water, stir and cook, covered, about 3 or 4 minutes. All ravioli should rise to the surface. Drain.

Put half the cream sauce into the pasta pot over medium-low heat and add the ravioli. Add remaining sauce and gently stir, coating all the ravioli. Serve at once with more cheese passed at the table. Serves 4.

Sam’s Cooking Tip: Fresh lasagna sheets are now available in many places where fresh pasta is sold. If the sheets you buy are larger than those indicated in the recipe, reduce the total number of sheets needed to get 36 ravioli.

A ravioli crimper, which looks like a ridged pizza cutter, makes the job of making ravioli a lot easier.