Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes. As summer draws to a close, here in Todi we are experiencing one of the best and most productive tomato seasons we’ve had in years. So we’ve been having them just about every way possible. Stuffed, roasted, on pasta, in soup and almost daily simply sliced on a plate. Even breakfast has become tomatofied, with eggs and bread becoming vehicles to enjoy the bounty while it lasts.
The only time of day that had escaped tomatofication so far was cocktail hour. Until this post from 101 Cookbooks popped up in my inbox the other day. At first I thought the golden drinks were some kind of mango fruit smoothie. Once I realized that they were cocktails, made from yellow tomatoes, I got more interested.
Somehow I always imagined making Bloody Marys from fresh tomatoes to be very complicated. I thought the road from vegetable to glass involved either cooking, or seeding or at least peeling and sieving.
But Heidi’s recipe called for simply whizzing the tomatoes in a food processor. And adding other important things like vodka.
I took Heidi’s original idea and added a few other summery things from the garden to the mix, like basil and fresh peperoncino. And while I envied the golden hue that her yellow heirloom tomatoes gave to her drinks, I’m loving the red of my more traditional red ones.
Since our tomatoes show no signs of letting up any time soon, it’ll be Bloody Mary time at our house for the foreseeable future. Now, if I could just figure out how to grow vodka.
bloody marys from the garden
4 cups cored and chopped ripe tomatoes
1 cup basil leaves
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 clove garlic
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1-2 small, fresh peperoncini (or other fresh pepper)
2 tsp fruity olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Vodka
Place all the fresh ingredients in a food processor and blend until very smooth.
I put the mix in a pitcher, and then make cocktails as we need them. I use a 1/4 cup of vodka per drink, but you don’t have to be as heavy handed as me.
Add ice and garnish with basil leaves
Doesn’t vodka come from potatoes?? plant some potatoes and make your own vodka…voila!!!
Another great thing to do with your garden fresh tomatoes is to make tomato jam–Domenico?? Some recipes call for various spices but I think just tomato and sugar are the best. Once you try it, it may become your favorite jam.
I’ve actually been making tomato jam. Last batch had onions and spices,but today will do some with just sugar and a few hot peppers.
Elizabeth, the perfect cosmopolitan bartender! When in Italy, one can feel like one is in New York if one would like to do so. But this recipe makes me question as to where in New York I can find such a sophisticated and bespoke Bloody Mary. (Answer: my kitchen, adhering to the above formula.)
By the time I’m having this third Bloody Mary under the spell of basil’s fragrance, I will most definitely realize that I have figured out how to grow vodka!
CD
I have to say that I love that you didn’t quantify the vodka…
Plus, there is no way that I would have thought that I could make this so easily…it must be very delish.
Because you never know how much vodka you’ll need at any given moment!
Yes, but you need a still chefbea! What a great idea Elizabeth! I have a passion for Bloody Mary’s! Never made my own tomato juice though, can hardly wait…had my first one made with homemade juice in London at the Harwood Arms…it was fantastic! Thanks for the reminder!
I’m sure Chefbea can pick up a still at a tag sale.
Thanks for this, I LOVE Bloody Marys! Not sure many of my friends agree though, I made a batch at a New Year’s party once and it was described as ‘pizza in a glass’ – maybe it was my recipe!