Food Revolution: Day 38

Can you believe I joined the Food Revolution more than a month ago? The even better part of that is I've lost 5lbs since then (10 total so far though). It really does work, cutting out all of those horrible processed food. Now, I haven't completely weaned myself off of them just yet, but I'm getting better about it every day. Soon, I'll be off the boxed dinners and fast food completely.

But I didn't come here to brag. I came to share another Jamie recipe with you from a completely different place. As you all know, I got an iPhone last summer when my old phone decided it no longer wanted to included spaces between words in my texts (allofthemlookedlikethis). You also know that I fell in love with the All Recipes Dinner Spinner app. One of my new favorite apps comes from the Naked Chef himself. 20 Minute Meals provides a nice assortment of different meals that are all simple to make and require only a handful of ingredients. It also includes several videos that teach you different tecniques for being more productive in the kitchen (how to cut an onion, how to keep your cutting board from sliding around, how to take care of your knives, etc.). There's even a handy screen for a shopping list. Just press the button that adds the ingredients fromy our chosen recipe, and everything you need to pick up at the store is right there. My only complaint is that there aren't enough recipes.

Hubby and I went with the Tomato Pappa, a tomato and bread based soup. I wasn't sure what to expect with this one since I can't stand soggy bread, and after having eaten it, I wish I had asked the hubby to cut the bread into smaller chunks (and we definitely would have used less than the 9oz. Jamie calls for). We had ours over a bed of mostaccioli so that it would go further, giving us leftovers for lunch the next day. It was good, velvety and thick. I would have liked more tomatoes and less bread, but the hubby was in Heaven so who am I to never make this soup for him again. Try it. You'll like it.

Tomato Pappa
Recie by Jamie Oliver

1 small bunch fresh basil
9oz. ripe cherry tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
9oz. ready to bake ciabatta (I just bought a loaf from the bakery and halved it)
1 14oz. can diced tomatoes
2 Tbl extra virgin olive oil

1. Place a deep pan on a medium heat until warm. Trim the crusts of the bread and tear the rest into bte-sized pieces (hubby ate the crust as he cut the bread for me).
2. Pick the smaller basil leaves and put to one side. Roughly chop the rest, stalks and all. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Peel and finely slice the garlic cloves.
3. Add a splash of olive oil to the hot pan. Add the sliced garlic and stir around for a few minutes. As soon as the garlic starts to color, add the chopped cherry tomatoes and basil.
4. Turn the heat up to high and cook the tomato mixture for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring as you go, until everything is soft and sticky.
5. Add the canned tomatoes to teh sticky tomato mixture. Give it a really good stir so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan then bring everything to the boil. Fill the empty tomato can with hot water and pour this into the pan. Stir int he chunks of bread and extra virgin olive oil then turn the heat down to a simmer.
6. Stir the soup occassionally as it blips away. When it's smooth and the bread has completely softened, it's ready (this doesn't take very long at all, at most maybe 10 minutes unless you use really hard bread. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. Take it off the heat and cover with a close fitting lid. Allow to sit 5 to 10 minutes. Serve witht he reserved basil leaves as a garnish.