What to do with tomatoes
We follow the principle that as parents we select what to serve and when to serve it, and the child selects what to eat and how much. And we all eat the same meal together (let me know if you wish me to talk more about how and why we follow this principle). This week Ms M decided she wanted to select and make our meals. This resulted in her making us porridge and overnight rolled oats for breakfast, pesto snails (which is another way to use your pesto) and fried rice for lunch. We suspect that she doesn't always love the food we serve and is thus taking things into her own hands. As part of that, she asked me to make shakshuka focaccia.
If you've come to my house a few times, there is a very good chance that I've made you shakshuka before. Simply described, shakshuka is a Maghrebi dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, preferably with onions, garlic, chillies, and other goodies. It is pretty much your kitchen sink kind of dish. You can add whatever you have around. In Australia, many cafes call it baked eggs. In Israel, it is so popular, that we have Doctor Shakshuka, a restaurant serving this dish only. There are so many variations of shakshuka, including green ones, and yesterday I learnt of a potato version, which I now must try.
Anyhow, back to our planned breakfast this morning, it requires matbucha, another Maghrebi dish of slow cooked tomatoes with garlic and chillies. I made this last night and I suspect it will become a regular guest in our food staples. It reminds me of Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce. It takes about an hour and half to cook, which you can put on while watching tv, and just remember to stir it a bit every few minutes. And if you're Lachlan, also taste it every time you stir, just to make sure it is still amazing 😄
ps. this is yesterday's matbucha for this morning's breakfast. The shakshuka focaccia recipe has a recipe for the matbucha down the page.
I've asked people to let me know if they try any of my suggestions, and people have! Thank you!
Also, Rosetta reminded me that pesto means pounded/crushed which is where it got its name. Sugendran suggested a Mexican version of confit garlic that is baked. And Dylan sent me a photo of all the garlic he harvested 🧄
Photo courtesy: Dylan FM
This is the last Shakshuka I made at the time when we were allowed to visit people. Photo courtesy: Tim Lucas
Here are this week’s recipe suggestions for you to try:
Shakshuka — a few years ago I made a gist with how my friend and my mum make shakshuka
Frittatine Trippate — since I'm on a tomato roll, here's an egg frittata that is masquerading as pasta by an Aussie cook that moved to Italy
Lemon poppyseed madeleines — I have made this recipe multiple times and it is always amazing
Smoothie — Banana, green apple, 6 pitted dates, 1 cup baby spinach leaves, and milk
Zucchini and spinach soup — super quick soup!
Ingredients
2-3 tsp butter (optionally, use salted butter)
1 medium-to-large zucchini, peeled and chopped (2 cups)
2 garlic cloves, sliced
A little bit of water water
2 or 3 big handfuls of baby spinach leaves (about 1 cup, tightly packed)
A pinch of salt
1 tsp honey (optional, useful if the spinach is bitter)
Instructions
Heat up half the butter and fry the garlic for a couple of minutes. Then add the zucchini and salt, and fry for another two minutes.
Add the water and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat, and simmer until the zucchini becomes transparent, about 2 minutes.
Immediately add the spinach leaves, letting them wilt for a minute or two. Don't over the spinach. We want the green colour to remain vibrant.
Drain the vegetables but keep the cooking water.
Blend until perfectly smooth, using as much of the cooking water as needed to achieve desired consistency.
Serve with a dollop of the remaining butter.
Our meal plan from last week can be found at: https://foodfamily.app/public/meal_plans/149766a7-3e99-40fe-bacd-72827f1c671d
Once again, please let us know if you make any of these recipes, how you found them, what you changed, or just drop us an email to say hi.
Thanks and see you next week,
Elle, Lachlan, M, Ginger, and Edward