Romas are "Plum" Delicious & How to Roast a Roma

Our Roma Tomatoes

The Roma Tomatoes in our garden are coming in daily by the dozens! The Roma, also known as a Plum Tomato or Italian Plum Tomato, is a dense, meaty, pear- or plum-shaped tomato variety. It is a great canning, paste, soup and sauce tomato because of its texture, few seeds and low moisture content. Romas can be yellow, orange, pink or red, but the red is the most commonly found in supermarkets and vegetable gardens in the United States. Leave them on the vine until they are red and evenly colored and the temperature outdoors reaches about 90°F. When it gets warmer than that, pick them when they first start to color and continue ripening them indoors, preferably in a sunny window, at about 70°F, until they are fully ripened. If you have tomatoes still on the vine and a frost is predicted, pick the tomatoes! Ripen more mature tomatoes by placing them on a sunny window sill, stem side up (placing them stem side down causes them to rot more quickly.) If the tomatoes are green, hard and immature, wrap them in newspaper and store them no more than two layers deep in a box. Ripening will take between three and four weeks, so check their progress weekly.  If you have a few tomatoes and don't want to go to all the trouble of wrapping and storing, place your green tomatoes in a brown paper bag with a ripe apple. The apple gives off ethylene gas, which speeds up the ripening process. Check the tomatoes daily. Keep the tomatoes above 60°F to ensure ripening. If you don't want to ripen the tomatoes, but don't want to throw them away or leave them for the frost to kill, there are dozens of green tomato recipes out there to turn your end-of-the-season stragglers into something yummy...and you don't miss out on a single Roma tomato that you lovingly grew!

Serving Suggestions: Slice ripe, uncooked, Roma Tomatoes and layer them in a circular manner, on a plate or platter, with Buffalo Mozzarella and fresh Basil Leaves, alternating each one. Drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt and cracked black pepper for a Caprese Salad.  Or, make a fabulous veggie quiche and layer the top, just under the cheese, with Roma tomato slices. Roast your ripe Romas in the oven and make soup out of them. They are truly magnificent for this purpose.

Fabulous Veggie Quiche

with Roma Tomatoes

Roasting Roma Tomatoes

Preheat oven to 450°F.
Wash Romas in cold water and drain in a colander.
Cut tomatoes in halves, removing the stems and any hard cores.
Place tomato halves on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet or jelly roll pan, cut side up.
Drizzle each tomato half with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and fresh coarse-ground or cracked black pepper.
Roast for 30 minutes; remove from oven and cool on baking sheet.
Store in refrigerator or freezer, or use immediately for Roasted Tomato Soup!

This style of roasting yields a juicier roasted tomato which is perfect for soups. If you desire a drier tomato with less juice and a "meatier" texture, start with a 225° oven and roast them for about 3 hours. This process yields a more shriveled, drier tomato with a little bit of juice left inside. You can adjust the length of roasting time (add or subtract) depending on a) the type of tomato you are roasting and b) the desired end result. Let your eyes be your guide!

My Own Recipe for

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup...Heavenly!

Buon Appetito!

Check out my recipe at Foodista!

Just click the link below!

Oven-Roasted Roma Tomatoes Two Ways

Posole & Mexican Cornbread

Posole is a traditional pre-Columbian soup or stew from Mexico. It is as rich in flavor as it is in history. Nixtamal, corn kernels treated in an alkaline process (aka hominy), is the base of the dish, which is combined with chili peppers, various spices and meat...traditionally pork, but turkey or chicken was sometimes used. Vegan Posole is made by simply omitting the meat. Corn was considered sacred by the Aztecs, so Posole, despite its simplicity, was a "special occasion" food. It was shared among the whole community as an act of religious communion.

We love spicy food around our house, but I don't usually like it as spicy as other members of my family. Typically, I will make my dishes mild, but provide  "hot" additions to spice things up a bit for those in my family with cast iron stomachs and Teflon taste buds. This Posole recipe is a somewhat "Americanized" version. You can spice it up to your liking...but I'm going to let my taste buds and stomach live to eat another day!

Mild Posole

Ingredients
1 dried ancho chili
1 dried guajillo chili
1 Tbsp. olive or vegetable oil
1 small red onion, diced (or 1 tsp. onion powder)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes - do NOT drain!
1 4-oz. can green chili peppers, diced
1/2 tsp. cumin, or more to taste
1 Tbsp. Mexican oregano
1 tsp. salt
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 15-oz. can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
5 cups vegetable broth or vegetarian stock (try 5 cups water + 4 tsp. vegetable base + 2 tsp. commercial black, red or green mole)
2 15-oz, cans hominy, rinsed and drained
Juice of 2 limes

For a "with meat" version, add browned lean ground beef, pork shoulder or roast that has been simmered in water for 2 or more hours, or until tender, stewed boneless, skinless chicken or leftover Thanksgiving turkey that has been boned and skinned.

Garnish Suggestions
Cilantro, chopped
Onion, finely diced
Radishes, thinly sliced
Limes, cut into wedges
Avocado, diced
Lettuce, chopped
Tomato, chopped
Red Sweet Peppers, finely diced

Preparation
Soak chilies in hot water for 20 minutes. Discard any stems and as many seeds as you choose to adjust the "fire" factor. Puree in a blender. Heat oil in a medium-size pot and saute garlic and onion (if using onion powder, don't add yet!) on low for 10 minutes. Add vegetable broth, tomatoes (with juice), chili puree (add a small amount and adjust at the end of cooking), green chilies, salt and spices (and onion powder if using in place of onion). Simmer the soup/stew for 10 minutes. Add hominy and pinto beans, return to boil and simmer for additional 15 to 20 minutes. Add lime juice. Taste and, if necessary, add more salt, lime juice or chili puree. Ladle into individual serving bowls and set out garnishes from which your guests can choose to make it their own! Serve with Mexican cornbread.

Mexican Cornbread

Ingredients
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted
1/3 cup white sugar
4 eggs
1 15-oz. can cream-style corn
1 4-oz. can green chilies, well-drained
1 2-oz. jar pimientos, well-drained
Sliced jalapenos, if desired (add fresh or canned...you can make it as hot as you like!)
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup Mexican blend cheese
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white cornmeal
4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. cooking oil

Preparation

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Coat the bottom of a 9- x 13-inch baking dish with oil and place in the oven. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Blend in cream corn, chilies, jalapeno (if using), pimiento, spices and cheese.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Slowly add flour/cornmeal mixture to cream corn mixture and stir until well-blended. Pour batter into hot pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cornbread comes out clean. Serve with Posole.

Note: I usually do not like ANY sugar in my cornbread. In this recipe, however, I put a little sugar in it, as the cream corn already imparts some sweetness. If you desire a more savory cornbread, omit the sugar!