Arrabbiata with homemade sundried tomatoes / the drying process

     During this summer I decided to make sundried tomatoes and there are many reasons for that. The main reason is obviously enormus price , and what you get a jar ful of tomatoes (who are very cheap in the summer) loaded with cheap sunflower oil. When I’m saying this I mean on very good producers like Ponti and they still can’t put the olive oil instead of sunflower oil , so I decided to do it on my own and the results were stuning.
     Of course that you can dry them in the oven , but I decide to go something more traditionaly. From the equipment you will need long string and pincers to hold the tomatoes , but if you have some other idea to hold the tomatoes feel free to do it , I found this way the easiest one. The most important part of the drying process is to remove all the inner pulp of the tomatoes and to leave only the firm part , because the pulp have a high water contest and it would help the process of moldering tomatoes which is the last thing you want. When you cut all the tomatoes and remove the pulp you can start to put the tomatoes on the string and secure them with pincers. Leave them to hang on the sun and they will be all dried out in 2-3 days. Watch them occasionally and take attention on rotten one to remove them from the other pieces. I just want to say that I dried mine in the hottest time of the year and the average temperature was about 32 celsius.enormus price , and what you get a jar ful of tomatoes (who are very cheap in the summer) loaded with cheap sunflower oil. When I’m saying this I mean on very good producers like Ponti and they still can’t put the olive oil instead of sunflower oil , so I decided to do it on my own and the results were stuning.

Recipe serve two people

 Ingredients for arrabiata

• 250gr tagliatelle
• 6-10 sundried tomatoes
• half tin of tomatoe passata
• 60gr of pecorino or parmesan cheese
• handful of fresh basil leafs
• 3 tablespoon of extravirgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 red chilli (optional)
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Take a large pot of boiling salted water and cook the tagliatelle. Cook 2 minutes less then is writen on the package and then finish them in the sauce.  Heat the frying pan on medium heat and drizzle two tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil then add thinly sliced garlic a few leafs of basil to fry. After 1-2 minutes add sundried tomatoes and a little bit of pasta water to rehydrate them. Then add the tomato passata and stir everything for few minutes until everything is combined , and the sauce is reduced by half. After the sauce is reduced add the pasta and stir well. Add fresh basil and serve with few thinly slices of parmesan cheese. I hope you’ll like it 🙂

 

Arabijata sa domaćim sušenim paradajzom / proces sušenja

Odlučio sam letos da napravim svoj sušeni paradajz i za to postoji više razloga. Glavni razlog je definitivno odnos cene i kvaliteta , odnosno ogromna cena proizvoda koji je u sezoni veoma jeftin. Kad to kažem mislim na vrlo dobre proizvođača kao što su Ponti a i oni i dalje ne mogu da stave maslinovo ulje umesto suncokretovog , pa sam odlučio to učinim sam i rezultati su bili odlični.

Naravno da možete da ih sušite u rerni ali sam se ja odlučio na originalni starinski način , odnosno na direktnom suncu. Od opreme bi vam trebali kanap i štipaljke bukvalno , odnosno taj način sam ja video kao najednostavniji , medjutim šta je meni jednostavno ne mora da važi i za vas. Najvažniji dio procesa sušenja je da ukloni sva unutrašnja srž paradajza i da se ostavi samo spoljašnji tvrdi deo (Paradajz iscite na četvrtine ) .Glavni razlog je taj što pulpa sadrži puno vode pa će vam se tako paradajz pre ubudjaviti nego što će početi da se suši. Kada izvedete ovaj deo ostalo je stvarno lako , sve što trebate da uradite je da ih zakačite na kanap i osigurate štipaljkama. Ostavite ih da vise na suncu za otprilike 2-4 dana će biti potpuno suvi. Nadgledajte ih povremeno i obratite pažnju da se neki nije ubudjavio i ako jeste odstranite ih od ostalih. Želim da napomenem još samo da sam ceo proces radio letos i da je dnevna temperatura bila oko 32 stepena otprilike.

 

Recept je za dve osobe

Sastojci za Arabijatu

• 250gr tagliatelle pasta
• 6-10 kriški sušenog paradajza
• pola konzerve paradajz sosa
• 60gr pekorina ili parmezana
• šaka svežeg bosiljka
• 3 kašike maslinovog ulja extravirgin
• 2 čena belog luka
• 1 crveni čili (opcionalno)
• so i biber

Instrukcije

Uzmite veliki lonac sa ključalom vodom i stavite oko 5 grama soli zatim ubacite taljatele i kuvajte ih dva minuta manje nego što je napisano na pakovanju , a zatim ih dovršite u sosu da bi pokupile aromu i ukus sosa.  Zagrejte tiganj na srednjoj temperaturi i dodajte dve kašike maslinovog ulja , te zatim ubacite tanko isečen beli luk i ubacite par listova bosiljka da se isprže sa belim lukom. Nakon 1-2 minuta dodajte sušeni paradajz i malo vode iz lonca u kome se kuva pasta da bi ste malo rehidrirali paradajz a samim tim i zgusnuli sos jer je ova tečnost puna skroba zbog testenine. Zatim dodajte paradajz pelat i mešajte sve za nekoliko minuta dok se sve ne sjedini i dok se sos ne redukuje na pola odprilike. Nakon što se sos redukovao i zgusnuo dodajte testeninu i sve dobro mešajte. Dodajte svež bosiljak i poslužite uz tanko narendane lisiće parmezana. Nadam se da će vam se svideti 🙂