Chefs Carlota Claver and Oriol Sabé reveal how to make a soup at home, a cobblestone, a stuffed lettuce tray and a preserve with seasonal fruit that stirs passions.
BARCELONA The tomato is the most desired ruby red when the summer temperature rises. It allows for simple recipes, such as cutting it in half and dressing it with extra virgin olive oil and salt. Or drink it in the form of gazpacho after you have crushed it with cucumber, pepper, garlic and a dash of vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Perhaps these two recipes are the most common of summer meals. However, cooks maintain that very creative preparations can be made with tomatoes. We explain step by step four recipes to make them at home.
Tomato salad with tomato soup
The cook Oriol Sabé, of the Can Marc restaurant, in Sant Esteve de Palautordera, suggests eating the tomato in different textures. On the one hand, the tomato (pear type, for example) is cut into pieces, which are placed on a flat plate together with olives and anchovies. On the other hand, take another part of the tomato, grind it with an electric mixer and strain the result through a cloth strainer. “The cloth strainer will allow only the clearest liquid to pass through, which is what we need for the recipe,” he says.
Once obtained, it is placed in a glass or deep bowl, and some basil leaves are placed inside. “The more hours we have the better, because that way it will be infused better”, comments the cook. The next step, with the infused tomato water, is to remove the basil leaves and add xanthan, which is a texturizer. “The appropriate ratio of xanthan is one gram per liter of liquid.” If you don’t have it (or can’t find it), you can skip this step and therefore use the infused tomato water directly. “The fact is that xanthan has the property of giving texture to the liquid without the need to go through the stove, as other texturizers such as cornstarch would do. To serve the recipe, pour the tomato soup into the dish where the tomato has been prepared with the anchovies and olives. The final touch, for the garnish, are julienne-cut basil leaves.
Stoned with smoked sardine
The cobblestone has beans and tomato as protagonists, and can be eaten warm or cold. To make it, the cook Oriol Sabé says that you need to cut the tomato and the peppers (green and red) into small pieces, diced, so that “the salad is like little stones that are all pierced with a fork”. So, the first step is to cut the tomato. The variety of tomato that can go best for the recipe is the apple, “or another that is fleshy”. Next, you need to boil the beans, which must have previously been soaked for a minimum of four hours. The boiling of the beans has some important steps, essential so that the skin of the legume is well fixed, and therefore does not shine when mixed with the other ingredients. It involves placing the beans in a saucepan with water, and when the boil starts they are removed and put back into the saucepan with new water. “This second time, on low heat, it will have to be about 45 minutes, which is the time needed for the bean to be cooked.”
Meanwhile, prepare the cod. “Both the loin part and the split go well”, comments the cook. The fact is that the cod must have been previously hydrated until everyone has found the right amount of salt. “You have to put the cod in a bowl of water and the water is changed over and over again until, when we taste it, we see that it is at the level of salt that we like”. All the ingredients should be dressed with extra virgin olive oil and pepper, especially the cod, which will be more tender. As a final touch, spring or red onion and a smoked sardine can be added. The cobblestone can be eaten immediately, warm, or it can be left to rest in the refrigerator.
Boat with tomato and peach
The cook Carlota Claver, from the La Gormanda restaurant in Barcelona, explains how to make a tomato and peach salad, which she places inside half an avocado or a lettuce leaf. If you opt for half an avocado, grill it with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. If you prefer the lettuce leaf, wash it well, season it and reserve it while you prepare the contents. To begin, remove the skin from the tomato. “I consider it very important to remove the skin because it provides a very different texture to the tomato, rather rough,” explains Claver, who adds that, on the other hand, the skin of the tomato is always left on when preparing stir-fries. Either way, with a sharp knife, remove the skin from the tomato and then cut it into very small cubes. Do the same with the peaches, and season each with soy, flake salt and extra virgin olive oil. To accompany the tomato and peach, also add some jalapeño pepper , fresh fennel, onion and radishes, all cut into small pieces. You will already have all these ingredients ready to place inside the half avocado or the leaf of the bud. As a final garnish for the salad, Claver suggests crushing peaches (without the stone), together with olive oil, salt, soy and a little mineral water. “There should be a very fine cream, which we will place at the base of a dinner plate.” On top, half an avocado (or lettuce) that will treasure the seasoned tomato and peach. “The result is a very attractive colorful salad, because the red of the tomato ties in with all the other tones, especially green and orange,” says the cook at La Gormanda restaurant..
Canned tomato
Canned tomatoes are the successful formula that allows the food to be encapsulated to be savored throughout the year. The first thing to do is blanch the tomatoes, that is, place them in a pan of boiling water for one minute. Then, remove them, cool them and you can remove the skin and place them inside a glass jar, which you will have cleaned beforehand.
