Ntomatofai
‘KO’s Ntomatofai’ (tomato-eat) – a recipe I have learnt from my mum, Antigoni and one she learnt from her mother, Stavroula. It has now become one of my signature dishes and all my family and friends become very excited and animated when I prepare it. This recipe was, in fact, the catalyst for the creation of Kali Orexi. I was holding out for my mum to share this recipe with you, but she is a little camera-shy. So instead, I am sharing it with you. It takes a bit of time and lots of love to make, but the love will come back to you many times over when you share it. Try it and see!
Ingredients
You will need…
1.5 kg ripe, soft tomatos
7 green horn-peppers
7 red horn-peppers
1 soupspoon raw sugar
2 teaspoons salt
200 ml olive oil extra virgin
Preparation
Watch the full recipe video below. Subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the Subscribe link on the video.
Prepare the tomatoes...
Coarsely chop the tomatoes and place them in a bowl
Blitz the tomatoes with a hand-held mixer, blender or food processor, until pureed/liquefied
Pour the tomato puree into a large baking dish and season with salt, sugar, and a generous amount of EVOO (approximately 50ml)
The tomato puree needs to be baked until most or all the water in it has been cooked off
Place the baking dish into an oven preheated to 200°C, for approximately 1 hour. Initially, check and stir the puree every 15 minutes. After 45 minutes, check every 5 minutes for pools of juice forming within the baking dish, by pushing the puree out from the centre of the pan with a spoon. As the puree continues to cook, you will see less pooling within the baking dish. It’s very important to keep a close eye on the oven and the baking dish at this stage because the tomato puree can burn easily once it’s dehydrated
Once there is little or no juice pooling in the dish and the tomato puree is essentially dehydrated, remove the baking dish from the oven and set it aside
Prepare the peppers
Wash all the peppers thoroughly, removing any dirt or dust
Cut the tops off the green peppers; cut them in half; remove the veins and seeds; and then cut each half into thirds on a diagonal, creating long strips
Generously drizzle EVOO (approximately 25ml) over the base of a large baking dish
Place pepper pieces, in a single layer, into the baking dish
Drizzle more EVOO on top of the peppers and season with salt
Place the baking dish with the peppers into the hot oven, for approximately 30 minutes or until lightly browned on the underside
Turn the peppers over and return them to the oven for another 10-15 minutes
Once browned on both sides, remove the peppers from the oven and carefully place a single layer of them over the dehydrated tomato puree. Set aside
Repeat the above steps to prepare the red peppers
Once browned on both sides, remove the red peppers from the oven and carefully add them to the baking dish of green peppers and tomato puree
Bake the Ntomatofai
Generously drizzle the ntomatofai with EVOO (approximately 75ml)
Return the baking dish to the hot oven for 10-15 minutes or until the peppers have browned a little more on top
Remove the baking dish from the oven and drizzle with more EVOO (approximately 25ml)
