chopped tomatoes

Caterina

want2bmortgage3 wrote: »

thanks for the tips. i've just made a storecupboard pasta sauce, i fried 2 finely chopped shallots in olive oil and added a finely chopped garlic clove, then added value tinned tomatoes, heated until simmering and added some red lentils. left it simmering for about 20 mins. it ended up with a nice consistency but the lentils arent soft enough, they are still slightly hard but ok to bite into. what did i do wrong?

Always put lentils to cook in cold water and do not add any salt until they are soft or they might stay hard. Lentils do not need soaking but if you have green or brown lentils and you know you are going to use them the next day it is worth soaking them just to save cooking time and gas.

The cold water and no salt treatment applies to all pulses (especially the ones that need soaking!).

A good way to soften cooking pulses is to add a little strip of a seaweed called Kombu (Sainsburys sell them sometimes and a little goes a long way, also adding good minerals to the dish!).

HTH

Caterina

annie-c

want2bmortgage3 wrote: »

Thanks for the post annie, do you know the science behind adding the sugar and salt? I'd like to learn about these sorts of cooking techniques, why they are done, how they enhance the flavour, its very interesting.

I don't know the science bit, but sugar sweetens (and mitigates against any bitterness from the seeds). Salt is a general flavour enhancer and seems to be partiularly good with tomatoes.

Caterina

Super-easy way to turn peeled tomatoes into chopped tomatoes:

Remove can lid, drain liquid, take long-bladed scissor and chop chop chop, stirring occasionally to chop evenly.

Trivia info: if tinned tomatoes cost 2 p less than ready chopped tomatoes and you need 10 seconds to chop the tomatoes to satisfactory consistency, your tomato-chopping activity is saving you £7.20 per hour (well above minimum wage!)

annie-c

PS I think Caterina is absolutely right about cold water and soaking. Just to add, because I tend to cook my tomato sauces in a slow cooker, the costs are minimal and the time saving, ie bung them in and forget it, is worth the slightly longer cooking time. Also, I tend to add lentils as a thickener so I judge how much to throw in by how 'thin' the sauce is looking. all trial and error though, cooking is an art not a science in my kitchen!

want2bmortgage3

hey annie, you said you use lentils as a thickener, i guess that means the lentils turn to mush eventually? well when i cooked them in chopped tomatoes they were still intact and hard on the outside but ok to bite into. i'll never do that again, the next day i suffered.. if you know what i mean!