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Food for Thought Friday: stewwwwwwed tomatoes 🍅 and clean-out-the-fridge soup
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Hello and happy Friday,
Today I want to tell you about stewwwwwwed tomatoes. Sure, you could call them “stewed" tomatoes, but if you want to do it right/have a little fun, you have say it in a silly voice: “STEEEWWWWWWWED” with the emphasis on the “eewwwww” sound, like my dad would say it every time he made these. 🤪
“Stewwwwed” tomatoes is a term we use in my family (coined by my dad) for tomatoes cooked in a shallow (non-stick or stainless steel) pan, with a dash of olive oil and some roughly chopped garlic, cooked until they’ve just softened and have turned into a kind of chunky, slightly stew-ey sauce/topping. Sometimes we throw in a dash of balsamic vinegar at the end, maybe some fresh basil/herbs, or feta cheese depending on what you're feeling like and have around. It comes together very fast - about 10 minutes, and you make this to put on top of whatever else you’re making: maybe eggs, an omelet, or whatever other leftovers you’re warming up.
Stewed tomatoes are best made with soft, on-their-way-out (possibly a little mushy), end-of-season tomatoes like the ones I’ve been seeing lately. Or if you've let your cherry tomatoes sit around too long and need to use them up, this is the perfect thing to do with them! Making stewed tomatoes is also a great way to make winter tomatoes or otherwise not-the-best-tasting tomatoes into something magical.
Here's a classic use, below, of stewed-tomatoes to top a meal in the tastiest way. I used them here to add some saucy/juicy-ness to this otherwise-dry combo of sauteed broccolini, potatoes, and some leftover kebabs we were eating.
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(^Sorry friends - I've only had time for very real life, let-me-snap-a-pic-real-quick-before-eating-this photos as of late!!)
This week, I had a fridge that was nearly-empty and a container of yellow cherry tomatoes that was too soft and close to going bad:
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I knew I wanted to make stewed tomatoes, and then realized that instead of using them as a topping, I would use them as a base for a quick soup!
Here's what I had in the fridge:
- a small head of napa cabbage
- a leftover container of rice
- 6 filets of petrale sole (each filet is super thin and small, so it was about enough for 2 people)
- 2 jars of chicken broth
I had also recently had a craving for miso soup, and I spotted the miso at the bottom of my fridge and decided to use that too!
So - I let the tomatoes stew a bit. I used a bigger stainless steel pot since I now needed a vessel big enough for a small pot of soup. I chopped up the cabbage and added that to the tomatoes/garlic to let it cook down a bit (but not too much). The fish filets were extremely thin, so I knew they would cook in just a few minutes in the hot broth. I didn't want to overcook the fish, so I planned to add that last, and thus planned backwards from there for when to add everything else.
After the cabbage started to soften, I added the broth and leftover rice and a touch of water. I let that all come to a simmer. Once it was simmering, I added the fish gently on top. I watched it turn white as it cooked through, and I broke it up a bit with a wooden spoon to distribute it evenly around the pot.
I then turned off the heat and added a big tablespoon of miso, which I stirred in with a spoon, pushing it against the sides of the pot to make sure it melted and distributed throughout the soup. At the table as I started to eat, I couldn't really taste the miso, so I added another tablespoon to my bowl and then, BAM it was amazing! Miso has such great flavor, it totally made the soup.
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Kind of a weird meal, but it was so different than what we usually eat, it really hit the spot! plus - the satisfaction of using up every last thing in the fridge and turning it into something tasty... you just can't beat it :).
My conclusion of the week is that stewed tomatoes are a great food to transition from summer into fall. I'm so ready for the fall flavors and warming, brothy bowls! Also - miso will transform ANY soup from "blah" into delicious!
And that's your intuitive cooking inspiration for the day! If you make stewed tomatoes, make sure to use my tomato-cutting method that saves all the juice, and if you want to learn to keep a stash of FREE homemade broth around at all times like I do, see here.
Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
Love,
Jess
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All photos are taken by me and recipes written by me, unless otherwise noted.
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Hi, I'm Jess! I help health-conscious, busy people transform their cooking from chore to lifestyle through intuitive cooking, which I teach through online classes, free content, coaching and more. This is my newsletter, Food for Thought Fridays, where I share highly actionable tips and inspiration to help you cook more intuitively (which makes cooking feel easier and SO much more fun!). Once a month, I share a recipe that's really worth making, and I only share those with my email subscribers. Sometimes the text above may include affiliate links, meaning (at no additional cost to you) I get a commission if you click through and make a purchase. This helps me to continue to share free content, so I would love it if you buy through my link! Thank you for supporting Garlic Press Jess!
I currently work + live on land that is the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone. And I can't wait to eat at Cafe Ohlone! Check out this article about them.
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