Will Eat This

Monday Blues

Cooking, FoodJanuary 7, 2019January 6, 2019 Sinmi

Turkey Kielbasa stir fry in a white bowl

It is always surprising to me that I still have a sense of Monday as the beginning of the week. I have spent most of my career working an unconventional schedule. This means I work during the weekend. My days off are usually during the week. So, Monday for me is really just another day of the week. However, I still find myself in the Monday Blues needing something easy to get me going. This Turkey Kielbasa stir-fry has become the thing.

I love sausages. Always have, always will. But my relationship with any sausage is complicated because I don’t eat pork or its derivative. Almost all sausage products are encased in a pork casing, even when the filling is not pork based. This makes it hard for me to get sausages because I find myself reading ingredients fine print. Luckily I have been able to find a few brands that use collagen casing.

The thing I like about the Turkey Kielbasa from Hillshire Farms is the seasoning. The sausage has a balanced blend of herbs and spices. I don’t have to worry about seasoning the foods I put it in. This makes it a perfect backbone for a quick meal on a lazy night.

The other thing I should tell you about this turkey kielbasa stir fry is that it is not finicky. There is no order of business other than getting the sausage into a hot pan along with the vegetables. Everything just needs to heated thoroughly because the turkey kielbasa is already cooked.

I have served this with my favorite mashed white beans again. I feel like it is time for me to write a recipe for this mashed white beans because it is so easy and goes so well with everything. Anyway, I hope this turkey kielbasa stir fry brings some joy to blow the Monday blues away.

Turkey Kielbasa Stir-fry

Sinmi

A super speedy recipe for an easy Monday meal featuring turkey kielbasa and vegetables.

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 30

Course Main Course

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

16 oz Turkey Kielbasa sliced
1 Yellow Onion sliced
2 Cloves Garlic Smashed and chopped
1 tsp sweet paprika powder
1/2 tsp chili flakes
Salt to taste
2 tbsp Olive Oil Use a light or neutral olive oil
1 pound Baby Kale

Instructions

Add the olive oil into a pan to heat.
Once the olive oil is hot, add in the turkey kielbasa slices, onion slices, chopped garlic. Gently shake pan to get the items moving.
Season pan with salt, chili flakes, and paprika.
Once the onion starts showing signs of caramelizing, add in the kale and continue to cook for a couple of minutes
Take the pan off the heat and serve stir-fry.

Keyword turkey kielbasa, turkey kielbasa stir fry, turkey sausage, turkey stir fry

Sunday Calls

Drinks, SmoothiesJanuary 6, 2019August 14, 2019 Sinmi

My Sundays are for family. Although I live far away from my family, this is the day I have chosen to reconnect with them. I make phone calls to my mother and my sister. I spend a considerable amount of time trying to find a cozy place to settle myself while I gab. This grapefruit papaya smoothie is one of the foods I use to power my conversations.

a glass of grapefruit papaya smoothie surrounded by cut citrus fruit and a half papaya

I am a creature of habit. Staying in my comfort zone means creating routines that allow me to feel grounded even as my life changes. Talking to my mom on Sunday is one of the habits that keeps me grounded. It is a routine I have had in place for almost half of my life. No matter where I have lived, my mother knows I will call her on Sunday. It is something she has come to look forward to. On the rare Sunday that I don’t call, I feel guilty and she feels worried. So, I unless it is completely unavoidable, the Sunday call is a sacred part of my life.

half papaya and slices of limes and grapefruit

The first time I saw the grapefruit papaya combination, I believe it was on a package of baby food. It was one of those things that I laughed at. But in the spirit of discovering new foods, I tried to replicate it with the grapefruit papaya smoothie. The last laugh is on me.

It is an undeniably interesting combination, I know. And it is one I never thought would work. Somehow, three years later, I am still regularly reaching for a grapefruit papaya smoothie. As much as I loathe the process of making this smoothie because I have to segment a whole grapefruit, it is worth the effort. Especially when I make it ahead and I can treat myself to a glass of chilled grapefruit papaya smoothie.

Grapefruit Papaya Smoothie

A tangy and cream smoothie featuring grapefruit and papaya.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10

Course Drinks

Servings 1

Ingredients

1 Grapefruit segmented
1/2 Papaya Peeled and cubed
1/2 Lime optional

Instructions

Add the grapefruit segments and papaya cube into a blender. Also, pour in any juice that might have dripped from segmenting the grapefruit. Blend the mixture until it is a smooth and creamy consistency.
Pour into a cup. Squeeze the wedge of lime on the smoothie just before drinking. The lime juice adds dimension.

Keyword Grapefruit, grapefruit papaya smoothie, papaya, smoothie

A Smooth Homage to Walker’s

Baking, Cookies, FoodJanuary 5, 2019March 5, 2019 Sinmi

Holding a bitten walnut ginger shortbread between two fingers

There are few things that give me a pause like baking. I am not a natural baker. I haven’t baked long enough to feel like I can trust my intuition. Yet, nothing draws me like baking. I feel like my lack of skills is a challenge. The only way to get better is to try and try. Study my failures and enjoy my successes. Baking this walnut ginger shortbread was definitely a success.

A lot of what I do in terms of food is re-imagining things that I have seen. I try to change the details so that the core is the same but the experience of food shifts. This particular shortbread recipe is based upon the master shortbread recipe on the New York Times Cooking site. I find that recipe to be a good place to start when making shortbread because I have used it many times.

However, when I started thinking of this walnut ginger shortbread, I knew I had to look beyond just dumping in the ingredients. I wanted them to blend into the shortbread recipe and let it become it own thing. Hence, I made some adjustment to the recipe, not just the ingredients but the technique as well. The changes I have made reflect the way I enjoy food; both the cooking and eating.

short stacks of walnut ginger shortbread on a white plate

Despite the nut in the walnut ginger shortbread, I want to still have a smooth experience in the mouth. This meant finding a way to turn the walnut into a sort of flour instead of lumps studded into the dough. The crystallized ginger is a homage to Walker’s version of the Ginger Shortbread. The ginger is also chopped finely so that the dough remains smooth.

One finally note I will make about the process of figuring out this cookie is the baking temperature. I played around with the baking temperature until I arrived at a temperature and timing that gave just the right amount of browning. I hope you try out the recipe for the walnut ginger shortbread. It is really easy but produces a cookie that is marvelous with tea.

Walnut and Ginger Shortbread

Sinmi

A melt-in-the-mouth shortbread cookie with crystalline ginger

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Chilling Time 4

Total Time 40

Course Dessert

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

1 Stick Butter room temperature
1/2 Cup Walnut Flour
1/2 Cup Crystallized Ginger chopped into tiny bits
11/4 Cup All purpose flour
1/4 Cup Corn Flour
1 egg yolk room temperature
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup Powdered Sugar

Instructions

In a bowl, combine the sugar, ginger, walnut flour, all-purpose flour and corn flour with salt.
Cream the butter and the egg yolk together until fluffy.
Add in the flour mixture, about 2 tbsp at a time, and mix gently. Don’t mix too much so that the cookie remains flakey.
When flour and butter mixture is incorporated, pour the dough on parchment paper and gently roll into a log.
It is time to chill the cookie dough. I prefer to have the dough in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours but four hours is the recommended minimum. The dough would last in the freezer for a couple of months. If you freeze, bring out cookie dough into a refrigerator at least a couple of hours before baking.
When it is time to bake, preheat oven to 300F.
To bake the walnut ginger shortbread, cut the log into 1/4 inch thick coins. Place on a baking tray, preferably lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. The shortbread can be baked longer if you prefer a bit more color on the cookies.

Keyword Cookies, ginger, shortbread, walnut

Clementines for St.Clements

Drinks, MocktailsJanuary 4, 2019January 2, 2019 Sinmi

A flatlay of st.clements drink surrounded by oranges, lime and clementine

The St.Clements drink is a classic mocktail. Since I am that person that just can’t let things be, I decided to play around with the recipe for the St.Clements. A classic version of the St. Clements features orange juice and bitter lemon. It actually sounds really yummy.

I decided to play on the name of St.Clements drink by using clementine juice. It is the middle of winter and there is an abundance of citrus around. One of the reasons why I wanted something other than orange juice is because I find it a bit much. Clementine juice is much softer and has a floral note when compared to an orange.

For the lemonade or bitter lemon aspect of this St. Clements drink, I made my own syrup. It pretty much follows the formula for the Grapefruit Thyme syrup I shared before. Except, I am using a mix of lemon and lime in this recipe.

The other adjustment to the classic recipe is using a mix of ginger beer and sparkling water to finish up the drink. The ginger adds a bit of heat to the drink to compliment the hint of florals from the clementine and the bitterness of the lemon-lime syrup.

I have a feeling this St.Clements is about to be a drink I reach for constantly. It is such a ready palette to play to with other flavors like basil or even a bit of thyme. I also imagine that infusing some jalapeno into the lemon-lime syrup would make for a memorable drink.

Let me know if you try this recipe. Follow me on Instagram and use the hashtag #willeatthis.

St. Clements

Sinmi

A play on the classic orange juice drink, St. Clements, features clementine juice and lemon-lime syrup.

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Prep Time 5

Course Drinks

Servings 1 Serving

Ingredients

3 oz Clementine juice I found that this is the juice of 1.5 clementine
3 oz Lemon-lime syrup
3 oz Ginger beer
Sparkling Water
Ice

Instructions

In a drink shaker, add in ice, clementine juice, lemon-lime syrup. Shake.
Strain the clementine juice mix into a tall glass. Add in the ginger beer. Top it off with sparkling water to taste.

Notes

The lemon-lime syrup in this recipe refers to my recipe for Grapefruit Thyme syrup. Also, I only added a few ounces of ginger beer because I wanted slight heat. If you prefer, you can top the drink up completely with ginger beer. You can also entirely skip the ginger beer and just use sparkling water. This drink is versatile.

Keyword clementine, ginger beer, lemon, lime, mocktail, st.clements

On Loving Butternut Squash

Cooking, FoodJanuary 3, 2019January 2, 2019 Sinmi

Roasted Butternut Squash Medley on Grains

I am trying to figure out how I got a point where I can be talking about eating a roasted butternut squash medley. It just seems so strange because a couple of years ago, I did not know what a butternut squash taste like.

Working in a grocery store helped me discover new foods after I immigrated to the US. I got an opportunity to try many different types of food. Looking back now, I realize that it was rare for me try a new vegetable. Eating new fruits is very easy. I was hesistant but I ate random slices of cheese.

Vegetables just never made it to the priority list of things I should try eating. This is sad because one of my favorite stories about learning to love new food involves eating a strip of raw red pepper. I know that good things happen when I give myself a chance to try new things. Sometimes, it is just hard to get through that initial first barrier. How do I cook it?

As I have become more intentional about eating more colors of foods and diversifying my taste experience, I have been become unabashed about asking questions. Plus, there is the magic of a smartphone and google. Yes, I am that girl in the aisle, using her phone to search recipe on how to cook or eat a fascinating item. This approach is how I suddenly found myself loving the squash family.

I can’t tell a lie. Butternut squash is one of the things that I like to have on hand at home. It is a quick meal waiting to happen. I tend to buy mine, unpeeled and unprocessed. This way I don’t have to worry about eating it immediately. Yes, it is a pain to peel on some days. However, once that’s done, I can get down to the cooking and the eating.

Lately, I have been on a roasted butternut squash medley binge. I think the whole fixation started after I roasted the first batch with a touch of apple cider vinegar. The vinegar is magic with the sugar in the butternut squash. It just makes it so much more alive instead of just sweet. This vinegary goodness combined with the caramelized onions and the jammy pepper chunks, I could eat bowls of this roasted butternut squash medley all day. Maybe I do, already.

Close up picture of Roasted Butternut Squash Medley

Since I am always looking for more flavor, I look adding bits of topping to the roasted butternut squash medley when I serve it. A little of bit of reduced balsamic vinegar, or balsamico, adds another dimension. Adding nuts for some added crunch is also another trick I use to make this food experience one I keep reaching for regularly.

The recipe for this is quick prep-wise. Especially, if you buy the butternut squash already peeled and chopped at the store. The oven does most of the work for use. Let me know if you try out the recipe.

Roasted Butternut Squash Medley

Sinmi

Roasted vegetables are one of the easiest ways to eat more vegetable and a staple of a good food prep regime. This butternut squash medley features onions and pepper.

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Total Time 45

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

1 Butternut Squash peeled and cubed
1 Onion (small) sliced
1 Yellow Pepper cubed
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Cloves Garlic
2 Sprigs Thyme or use 1 Tsp of dried thyme
Salt to taste
1 tsp Chilli Flakes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F.
On a baking tray, add in the butternut squash, pepper, onion, garlic, thyme, olive oil, vinegar, and salt. Toss gently to evenly distribute.
Place in the oven and let it roast for about 20 minutes. Open the oven and move vegetables around in the tray. Return to oven.
Let it roast for an additional 5-10 minutes until it develops some color. Pull out of the oven and serve.

Keyword butternut squash, roasted pepper, roasted vegetable

‘Tis the Season of Healthy…

Cooking, Food, SoupsJanuary 2, 2019January 1, 2019 Sinmi

We finally got through the holiday season! And I say ‘we’ because it seemed everywhere I looked, there was another indulgence. From the month-long cookies post on Instagram to the decadent pies, December was the month to devour. Now, ‘we’ are all here. Here in this place where it seems the pendulum swings encouraged gluttony to starvation. We are in the season of healthy, new beginning and elimination of major food categories. While I don’t subscribe to the drastic pendulum swings, I am solidly ready to be sipping this Broccoli Apple soup.

I don’t believe in diets. Been there done that. Still paying the price for years of denying myself food in the name of health. Instead, I believe in moderation. I believe in the joy of food as a part of daily living. Food is part of my self-care routine. Eating is a statement of self-love. Choosing to eat food, in its entirety and complexity, is more important to me than any superficial aesthetics or number on the scale.

One of the ways that I care for myself is to eat things that make me feel good from the inside out. This Broccoli Apple soup is one of my winter favorites. I know that it may seem like hypocrisy to be writing about self-care, body-positive and a decidedly low calorie soup in the same page. Let me challenge that thought by asking if eating well has to me either or. Is it possible to eat with moderation?

A black hand squeezing a wedge of lemon into a bowl of broccoli apple soup

This Broccoli Apple is one of my favorite things because I love the taste of hot green soup in the morning. This one just happens to be the soup I reach for in the winter. I think the combination of the heartiness of broccoli with the slight sweetness of the apple just makes me feel awake. Adding a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to the Broccoli Apple soup is definitely a must me.

Broccoli Apple Soup

Sinmi

A refreshing breakfast soup featuring two ingredients, broccoli with apple. It is a quick and easy make that stores well.

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 30

Servings 5

Ingredients

1 Pound Broccoli
3 Apples I love using granny smith for it tartness. But any apple works
1 Lemon
Sea Salt

Instructions

In a pot, add 4 cups of water and set it to boil.
While the water is boiling, deseed and chop up the apple. Also, cut the broccoli florets and stem into pieces that would fit into the pot.
Add the chunks of apple and broccoli into the pot of boiling water. Let it cook for about 5 minutes. Set it aside to cool.
Blend to the broccoli and apple to your decided consistency. I prefer mind just a bit short of smooth. Season with salt to taste.
When serving soup, add a wedge of lemon to be squeezed in just before consumption.

Keyword apple, broccoli, broccoli soup, soup

Shrimp Confit with Mashed White Beans

Cooking, Food, SeafoodJanuary 1, 2019January 1, 2019 Sinmi

I did not realize until a few years ago that black eye peas are actually a thing for New Year’s Day. The importance of black eye peas became apparent when I worked in a grocery store. All year, the frozen black eye peas just never seemed to go anywhere. Then, the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, they disappeared. Suddenly, customers are asking if we have more black eye peas in the back. I was flabbergasted but I found myself picking up this distinctly American tradition, in my own way. This New Year’s I am tapping into this tradition by eating beans on the first day of 2019 with this delightful smoky shrimp confit.

As an immigrant, my life is a blend of what I grew up knowing as my culture and what I have found in my odyssey away from my birthplace. There are parts of my new heritage that are intentional because I try to be very specific in who I am becoming. There are other parts that I have found and adopted through curiosity. My palate is very much about curiosity. There are many foods I did not understand at the beginning of my journey. Now, I find myself eating foods that amaze the woman that I am now.

Since I am not a big fan of black eyes peas, I am serving the confit shrimp with white beans. The idea to mash my beans comes from my love of ewa agoyin. Ewa agoyin is one of those Yoruba meals that nobody makes at home. Ewa agoyin is best eaten from the pots of a food hawker that parading the streets. There is something mythical about the deeply fried sauce is ladled in the well created within the plated mashed beans. I could tell you what the flavors in the sauce harken to but I can guarantee that nothing made at home is like the hawker’s sauce. A good ewa agoyin hawker’s sauce is not only dark, but it is also smokey, salty and gritty in texture.

I have tried to capture some the mythical nature of this dish by serving the black eye peas with an intensely flavored shrimp confit. The oil for this confit is where all the flavor exists. It is deeply flavored from the use of garlic and herbs. The smokey nature is pronounced from the addition of a sweet paprika powder that lends it a vibrant color as well.

Don’t be afraid of the oil in this dish. The seasoning to cook the shrimp means the oil is deeply flavorful. If you don’t soak up all the oil with bread while eating, store it in the fridge for a couple of weeks. It can be used on savory oats, to sauteed vegetables for a quick meal or even used to poach salmon.

The shrimp confit is a dish that requires patience but the result are so worthy of the time it takes to create. Why not start the new year off by coming to investing time in yourself? Cooking and exploring the different flavors that can exist in one meal is a good starting point.

Smoky Shrimp Confit

Sinmi

Shrimp is slow cooked in a bath of oil seasoned with herbs, garlic, and paprika.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 30

Cooling Time 15

Total Time 50

Course Main Course

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

1 pound shrimp (deveined)
1 tbsp Sweet paprika
1/2 small onion cut into wedges
1 sprig rosemary
3 sprig thyme
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp salt
11/2 cups oil don’t use olive oil. Canola oil or a bland oil like safflower works best.
1 tsp chilli flakes

Instructions

In a medium sized pot, add in the oil. Add in the rosemary, thyme, onion, and garlic. Cook over medium heat until the oil is fragrant. This process takes no more than ten minutes. Let the oil cool down and strain. This step can be completed a day or two ahead.
Pour strained oil back into the pot. Add in the paprika, chili flakes, and salt. Heat up until oil is just warm, around 200F. It should be at low heat.
Add in the shrimp in bulk, carefully. Doing this brings down the temperature of the oil so that it does not fry the shrimp. Keep oil on low heat. Monitor the heat to be sure it is not too hot. Cook until shrimp for about 20 minutes when it starts getting a pink hue.

Keyword confit, paprika, seafood, shrimp, shrimp confit

To Poach A Pear

Food, SweetsDecember 31, 2018December 30, 2018 Sinmi

Sliced Citron Honey Tea Poached Pear with Toasted Pound Cake and orange served with yogurt on a white plate

Poaching is one of those things that seems to put fear in the heart of many. Maybe because it sounds so fancy. Who hasn’t had anxiety about poaching an egg? Or maybe a pear? Citron Honey Tea Poached pear is one of those things that I find to be delightful in the winter.

Poaching is one of my favorite cooking techniques. It requires patience because it is not the quickest option. However, poaching is an act of gentle love because it allows flavor to be impacted while maintaining the softness of the food. When a pear is well poached, it does not fall apart. Instead, it maintains its integrity while absorbing the flavor it has been bathed in. This citron honey tea poached pea definitely captures flavor well.

When I was thinking of poaching pears this winter, I really wanted to tap into unconventional flavors like citron. Citron, also known as Buddha’s hand, is one the most mysterious fruits. It is a citrus with a juice flesh. The Buddha’s hand despite is lack of juice is one of the most perfumed fruits or flowers I have encountered. The smell on this fruit is divine. The citron is best used to infuse food.

One of the first way I ever tasted citron was via the citron honey tea that I buy from the Asian food market in a massive jar. I love the citron honey tea because I can drink it on its own merit. Or, I can also use it make other types of tea. Since citron has not juice, it lacks the sour edge of a citrus. This means when I use it in tea recipes, it mostly adds an olfactory experience to the tea drinking.

Poaching the pear in a bath of citron honey tea was like capturing winter on a plate. I loved it. Especially since I served it with a toasted slice of a pound cake I made using King Arthur Flour recipe. I added in some orange oil and zest into that recipe to add another dimension. I often toast my pound cake on the stove to give it a crunch. The plate is rounded out with a dollop of unsweetened whole milk greek yogurt. I almost feel like I could have this citron honey tea poached pear plate for breakfast.

Care to join me?

Toasted Pound cake with a wedge of orange

Citron Honey Tea Poached Pear

D’Andjou Pears are poached in a bath of citron honey tea to capture some of the citrus scent of winter in this easy recipe.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 25

Total Time 45

Course Dessert

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

4 Pears I used D’Anjou Pears
1 Cup Citron Honey Tea If you can’t find citron honey tea, you substitute with a citrus marmalade.
1/2 Cup Sugar optional
1 Inch Cinnamon Stick
1 Orange Sliced

Instructions

Fit your unpeeled pear into a smaller sized pot to test which would hold the pears snuggly and allow the fluid to cover the pears mostly.
Peel and core the pears. If you prefer, you can also cut the pears into half lengthwise.
Once you have found a good sized pot, add the citron honey tea, cinnamon, orange slices, and water. If you are using the sugar, add it in now. Bring the mixture to a simmer and stir until honey and sugar dissolve.
My trick for getting the poaching bath to the right temperature is turn off the heat. Once it cools a bit, I put on the heat back on to a “barely there” level, then add in the pears. You don’t want to see any signs of boiling or simmering. It should be a very gentle heating process.
After 15 minutes, start checking at regular intervals is the pears are soft yet. The pears are ready if a clean toothpick inserted goes in without pressure.
Retrieve the pears from the poaching bath.
This step is optional: Strain out the poaching fluid and put it back on the heat. Reduce the poaching tea until it coats the back of a spoon. This citron honey syrup can be used to serve the poached pears or even to sweeten beverages and oats.

Keyword Buddha’s Hand, Citron Honey Tea, Citrus, Pear, Poached Pear

No-Knead Bread

Baking, Bread, FoodDecember 30, 2018December 29, 2018 Sinmi

A loaf of knead bread with a slice beside it on a mesh rack

There are few things in life that I find more comforting than bread. Especially the Agege bread that the hawkers used to carry around on top of their head in Lagos. That soft doughy white bread that was just the perfect vessel for all kinds of food. If you have never had Agege bread stuffed with the the fatty trims of suya, you haven’t eaten one of the best things. Or maybe you have never tried Agege bread with akara or the perfectly soft moin–moin. Missing Agege Bread led me to no-knead bread.

There are few things I miss about home like I miss bread. The way bread just seemed to be on every corner and you could always figure out a meal pronto. It might seem crazy that I miss bread in a country where the grocery stores have a million and one options for bread. There is every shape, every size and every ingredient bread in every store.

slice of noknead bread with mashed white beans and poached eggs

But in a land of plenty, when that one special one is missing, you begin to question if you even belong. Lately, I have been experimenting with making bread. I am not a good bread-maker. It is important that I admit my flaws up front. It is either I am too impatient or not attentive enough when making bread. There are bread makers whose artistry and language floor me. I am just trying to make something that could fill some of that void from not having my home bread with me.

For the past couple of years, the no-knead bread has been my companion. Originally presented to the world by Mark Bittman during his time at the New York Times, this recipe has travelled around the world of food blogs. It is a pantry staple that is versatile enough. The recipe is as unfinicky as a bread recipe can be. And the result makes me feel like I have created something special when really all I have done is let flour, water and yeast rest for a long period of time. If there is one recipe I can recommend as a good place to play, it is the no-knead recipe.

I look forward to sharing my different variations of this recipe on this blog.

Tomatoes in the Winter

Food, SaucesDecember 29, 2018December 28, 2018 Sinmi

I get those moments when I become obsessive about a particular idea. The pass few weeks (yes weeks!) I have been obsessively thinking about how to eat tomatoes in the winter. The rabbit hole I entered led me to this wonderful creamy cheesy tomato pesto sauce.

Tomato runs in my blood. As a Yoruba woman, who was born and bred in Lagos for the entirety of my childhood, the tomato is a thing. It has taken a long time to not compulsively eat tomato sauce/stew with every meal. Growing in Lagos, we had really good tomatoes year round. I mean, there were times when there was scarcity and you wondered why the whole country had to subsist on tomatoes. However, more often than not, there was abundance. So many baskets of ripe and juicy tomatoes spilling over the woven basket. The market floor was often littered with rotten and underripe tomato tossed out carelessly by the traders.

I left that place of abundance to come to America, where tomatoes are mostly just passable. At first,I did not realize what I had given up because I lived in California. It seemed almost season-less. And I mean both the tomato and the state. Then I dragged my life over to Massachusett and suddenly, tomatoes have seasons. There is a very short window where I allow myself to eat tomatoes. it is usually from the middle of summer to late summer.

This short window of time is when the tomatoes are just about right to be eaten raw. A good tomato is juicy, almost like a ripe peach. When you bite into it, the juice oozes out uncontrollably. It should have a nice acidic edge that is only mellowed by its own sweetness. There is no way to write fully in words the magic that happens when you get a truly ripe tomato of good pedigree.

So, as you can imagine, given the frigidness I live with in New England, the magic of the tomato is one that is hard to lay my hands upon in the winter. I have had to come to terms with this. Come to terms means I don’t eat tomatoes in the winter, except it is canned. That is until I discovered a way to have cheesy tomato pesto sauce in the winter.

Lately, I have discovered a new class of tomato products for the winter. It started with Divina tomatoes last year and this year has escalated to the marinated cherry tomatoes from Trader Joes. Goodness me! When I first tried the Divina Roasted Red Tomatoes, I knew it was a love that might not stand the test of time. I could not justify to myself, and my bank account, the wisdom of buying eight dollar jars of tomatoes. I knew it was something I would only ever be able to eat when it is on sale (trust me, I keep my eye on the price sticker at my grocery store).

The Trader Joes semi-dried and marinated Cherry tomatoes has been a perfect way to ease the hurt of not being able to afford the Divina tomatoes. If I am being honest, I also realize that the Trader Joes and Divina tomatoes are best for different purposes. The Trader Joes semi-dried tomatoes are best for cooking sauces. The Divina roasted tomatoes work best as a topping.

I have recently been using the Trader Joes semi-dried cherry tomatoes in this quick cheesy tomato pesto sauce. It requires no cooking and it is a reliable 15-25 minute meal provider. Most of that time is spent cooking pasta or prepping vegetables. The sauce comes about quickly in a blender and works so well went add to hot freshly cooked pasta.

The tomato pesto sauce is super easy to make. The ingredients mostly come out of a jar. Plus, the sauce does incredibly well in the fridge, on its own or mixed in with food.

Tomato Pesto Sauce

Sinmi

A quick and easy tomato sauce that creates goodness from roasted cherry tomatoes and a few other items from a jar.

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Prep Time 10

Course Main Course

Servings 4

Ingredients

1 Cup Trader Joes Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
1 Roasted Medium Red Pepper
1/3 Cup Pesto
1/3 Cup Heavy Cream
1 Tsp Chilli Flakes
2 Cloves Garlic
Smoked Gouda Cheese Optional
Salt

Instructions

Add all of the ingredients, except salt and cheese, in a food processor and pulse until it comes into a smooth consistency.
Taste the sauce after blending. Season with salt to taste.
Tomato Pesto Sauce tastes best when mixed into freshly boiled hot pasta. The heat from the pasta heats the sauce. A bit of pasta water can be added to loosen up the sauce to desired consistency.
Shred the gouda cheese and sprinkle on top of the pasta as desired.

Keyword Pasta, Pesto, Sauce, Tomato