My mother, who usually doesn't like fooling around with cooking much,
is new fan of the Barefoot Contessa show, and borrowed one of her
cookbooks from the library. She made this roasted red pepper spread,
and now it's one of her favorites. I've gotten rather hooked on it
too, and have been eating it with tortilla chips-- mainly because it's
a little more dignified than eating it with a spoon.


Ariane

Roasted Red Pepper Spread
The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten

1 medium eggplant, peeled
2 red bell peppers, seeded
1 red onion, peeled
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons good olive oil
11/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the eggplant, bell pepper, and onion into 1-inch cubes. Toss them
in a large bowl with the garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them
on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes, until the vegetables are lightly
browned and soft, tossing once during cooking. Cool slightly.

Place the vegetables in a food processor fitted with a steel blade,
add the tomato paste, and pulse 3 or 4 times to blend.

Taste for salt and pepper.

Serve with toasted pita triangles or crackers.

Notes: Amounts are, of course, variable. I used more garlic and more
olive oil, and probably a little less salt. It made about 3 cups or so.

Ariane Jenkins wrote:

Place the vegetables in a food processor fitted with a steel blade,
add the tomato paste, and pulse 3 or 4 times to blend.

Any ideas on what to use other than tomato paste? It's a no-no in the
house (man, I miss 'em). It sounds great tho!!

And hey there...I'm still around. Miss our common posts :-)
--
"In Finnegans Wake, he just made up words.
Now that's just not sporting!"
...A friend on James Joyce

Elana Kehoe wrote:

Any ideas on what to use other than tomato paste? It's a
no-no in the house (man, I miss 'em). It sounds great
tho!!

What is tomato paste? Concentrated tomato pulp?
TIA
Vilco

Vilco [out] wrote:

Elana Kehoe wrote:

Any ideas on what to use other than tomato paste? It's a
no-no in the house (man, I miss 'em). It sounds great
tho!!

What is tomato paste? Concentrated tomato pulp?

Tomato puree, as it's called in the UK and Ireland.
--
"In Finnegans Wake, he just made up words.
Now that's just not sporting!"
...A friend on James Joyce

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 09:00:58 +0000, Elana Kehoe wrote:

Any ideas on what to use other than tomato paste? It's a no-no in the
house (man, I miss 'em). It sounds great tho!!

Hmmm. Well, it's a relatively small amount, so I'd leave it
out and see how you felt about the taste. You could always increase
the amounts of other things to balance out the flavor. I'm usually in
favor of more garlic. ;D Seems spices like a bit of ground roasted
cumin, cayenne or ground chipotle would not go amiss, either.

And hey there...I'm still around. Miss our common posts :-)

Heh, glad to see you're still around, too! I've been a bit
quiet on MCFL lately, seems like the noise ratio has gone up over
there and I don't have much to say at the moment.

Ariane

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 11:17:13 +0100, Vilco [out] wrote:

What is tomato paste? Concentrated tomato pulp?
TIA

In the context of this recipe, basically yes. It comes in a 6
oz. can here, dark red, thick, sort of the consistency of canned
pumpkin, if that helps. I've seen it in tubes, too.

Ariane

Ariane Jenkins wrote:

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 09:00:58 +0000, Elana Kehoe wrote:

Any ideas on what to use other than tomato paste? It's a no-no in the
house (man, I miss 'em). It sounds great tho!!

Hmmm. Well, it's a relatively small amount, so I'd leave it
out and see how you felt about the taste. You could always increase
the amounts of other things to balance out the flavor. I'm usually in
favor of more garlic. ;D Seems spices like a bit of ground roasted
cumin, cayenne or ground chipotle would not go amiss, either.

Oooo...sounds nice. I'll give it a go once things have settled down
here.

And hey there...I'm still around. Miss our common posts :-)

Heh, glad to see you're still around, too! I've been a bit
quiet on MCFL lately, seems like the noise ratio has gone up over
there and I don't have much to say at the moment.

I lurk a lot lately. Not much for me on MCFL, since it seems like the
new crop of posters are coming in and getting all the old questions out
fo their system. I miss Pat tho :-).
--
"In Finnegans Wake, he just made up words.
Now that's just not sporting!"
...A friend on James Joyce

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 19:46:45 +0000, Elana Kehoe wrote:

Oooo...sounds nice. I'll give it a go once things have settled down
here.

I'm slightly embarrassed to say I made the spread last night
and have already put a dent into my stash. Luckily, I have
another eggplant and more bell peppers on hand, because I anticipated
such a dilemma.

I lurk a lot lately. Not much for me on MCFL, since it seems like the
new crop of posters are coming in and getting all the old questions out
fo their system. I miss Pat tho :-).

Yeah, so do I. Drop her an e-mail, though, I'm sure she'd love
to hear from you! I've been meaning to e-mail her myself, just to say
hi and see how she's doing.

Ariane

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 20:56:32 GMT, Ariane Jenkins
wrote:

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 19:46:45 +0000, Elana Kehoe wrote:

Oooo...sounds nice. I'll give it a go once things have settled down
here.

I'm slightly embarrassed to say I made the spread last night
and have already put a dent into my stash. Luckily, I have
another eggplant and more bell peppers on hand, because I anticipated
such a dilemma.

Hmm..I will have to make this as soon as I can get into my new
apartment. I move in on Friday, and I am having people over for
dinner soon after. Sounds like a wonderful appetizer before a meal.

Christine

I hate to say this, because my grandmother made something very similar, more
eggplant than peppers, but otherwise, virtually the same (sans tomato
paste), and it was a family favorite...and I made it often, but it was a bit
of work. (Not a lot of work, just a bit)..... And it makes SO much, that I
didn't make it very often, and only for company. But ever since I
discovered Trader Joes has a roasted red pepper and eggplant spread in a
jar, about 8 ounces for a buck and a half, I just buy it from TJ's and it's
always in the house and its an amount I can handle!!!!

I'm sure my grandma is rolling over in her grave at the very thought of her
granddaughter eating eggplant spread from a jar, but...sorry Gram! It's very
good and easy, too!

Sheryl

in article , Ariane Jenkins at
wrote on 2/24/04 11:12 PM:



My mother, who usually doesn't like fooling around with cooking much,
is new fan of the Barefoot Contessa show, and borrowed one of her
cookbooks from the library. She made this roasted red pepper spread,
and now it's one of her favorites. I've gotten rather hooked on it
too, and have been eating it with tortilla chips-- mainly because it's
a little more dignified than eating it with a spoon.


Ariane

Roasted Red Pepper Spread
The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten

1 medium eggplant, peeled
2 red bell peppers, seeded
1 red onion, peeled
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons good olive oil
11/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the eggplant, bell pepper, and onion into 1-inch cubes. Toss them
in a large bowl with the garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them
on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes, until the vegetables are lightly
browned and soft, tossing once during cooking. Cool slightly.

Place the vegetables in a food processor fitted with a steel blade,
add the tomato paste, and pulse 3 or 4 times to blend.

Taste for salt and pepper.

Serve with toasted pita triangles or crackers.

Notes: Amounts are, of course, variable. I used more garlic and more
olive oil, and probably a little less salt. It made about 3 cups or so.

On Thu, 26 Feb 2004 00:15:45 GMT, Sheryl Rosen wrote:
I hate to say this, because my grandmother made something very similar, more
eggplant than peppers, but otherwise, virtually the same (sans tomato
paste), and it was a family favorite...and I made it often, but it was a bit
of work. (Not a lot of work, just a bit)..... And it makes SO much, that I
didn't make it very often, and only for company. But ever since I
discovered Trader Joes has a roasted red pepper and eggplant spread in a
jar, about 8 ounces for a buck and a half, I just buy it from TJ's and it's
always in the house and its an amount I can handle!!!!

I'm sure my grandma is rolling over in her grave at the very thought of her
granddaughter eating eggplant spread from a jar, but...sorry Gram! It's very
good and easy, too!

I'll have to look for it the next time I'm at TJ's. Meanwhile,
this recipe was pretty easy. Hardest part was cutting up the
vegetables, and I don't mind that since it doesn't take long. 8
oz. would probably go pretty fast in this house, so the larger batch
is nice, too.

Ariane

il Wed, 25 Feb 2004 12:23:39 +0000, (Elana Kehoe) ha
scritto:

Vilco [out] wrote:

Elana Kehoe wrote:

Any ideas on what to use other than tomato paste? It's a
no-no in the house (man, I miss 'em). It sounds great
tho!!

What is tomato paste? Concentrated tomato pulp?

Tomato puree, as it's called in the UK and Ireland.

But more concentrated.

--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

Loki wrote:

il Wed, 25 Feb 2004 12:23:39 +0000, (Elana Kehoe) ha
scritto:

Vilco [out] wrote:

Elana Kehoe wrote:

Any ideas on what to use other than tomato paste? It's a
no-no in the house (man, I miss 'em). It sounds great
tho!!

What is tomato paste? Concentrated tomato pulp?

Tomato puree, as it's called in the UK and Ireland.

But more concentrated.

I've always found it to be the same...oh, when I say tomato puree, I
mean from a can!
--
"In Finnegans Wake, he just made up words.
Now that's just not sporting!"
...A friend on James Joyce

Elana Kehoe wrote:

(bad! snipping, I'm sorry)

Tomato puree, as it's called in the UK and Ireland.

But more concentrated.

I've always found it to be the same...oh, when I say tomato puree, I
mean from a can!

In the US, tomato puree and tomato paste are *not* the same thing.

Tomato paste is much thicker. Not just pureed, but concentrated.
Both, however, are available in a can.

nancy

Both, however, are available in a can.

--------------
or in a tube.
--------------
Tomato paste is much thicker. Not just pureed, but concentrated.
Both, however, are available in a can.

nancy