Yoghurt creams with tomato compote
Calm your farm if you’re up in arms over the thought of syrupy, sweet tomatoes. They’re a fruit, doh! If rhubarb can be a vegetable that masquerades as a fruit, then tomatoes can reclaim their fruitiness and appear in dessert situations. So there.
Tomatoes are actually delicious cooked with loads of sugar; they make stunning jam for example, especially in combo with passionfruit. Or with oranges in a marmalade. Any of these scenarios are SO delicious on toast with creamy schmears of ricotta and that’s something Italians have known for a while; in his 1891 book Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, Pellegrino Artusi, arguably the grand-daddy of Italian cuisine, featured a tomato jam recipe. And people weren’t going ‘ooh yuck, sweet tomatoes’ back then. On the Greek island of Kos, tomato spoon sweet, an intensely syrupy preserve you nibble while sipping from a glass of water, is a beloved traditional treat. So if the Mediterranean Diet and sweet tomatoes are good enough for the Romans and Greeks, we’re on board too.
Now we’re clear there’s nothing weird about cooking tomatoes with sugar, let’s talk about this yummo dessert, shall we? The inspo for the creamy part is panna cotta, but it’s a lightened version, with honey to sweeten and the richness of cream cut with yoghurt. You could add a few crushed cardamom seeds to the cream mixture if you love that flavour. It’s super-simple to make, and if you still think sweet tomatoes are odd, despite our best proselytising efforts, you could make the cream part and top it with whatever fruity compote situation that appeals more; stewed berries, apples, plums or dried apricots would all be fab. The tomato compote might make more than you need for this recipe, but leftovers go brilliantly over dollops of Greek yoghurt and a smattering of muesli for breakfast. And hey, if you really love it, it easily doubles. NOW you’re talking!
SERVES 4
1¾ tsp powdered gelatine
200ml pouring cream
90g (⅓ cup) honey
350g (1⅓ cups) Greek-style yoghurt
Tomato compote
800g cherry tomatoes
250g caster sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 wide strips lemon peel, white pith removed
2 tsp lemon juice
For the tomato compote, combine the sugar and cinnamon stick in a saucepan with 375 ml (1 ½ cups) water. Bring to a simmer, then cook for 2-3 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved. Add the tomatoes and lemon peel, bring back to a simmer, then cook over medium-low heat for about 60 minutes or until the liquid has reduced to a syrup and the tomato looks translucent. Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice, discarding the cinnamon and lemon peel. Cool, then refrigerate to chill.
Sprinkle the gelatine over 60ml (¼ cup) water in a small heatproof cup or bowl. Stand for 5 minutes or until softened. Place the cup in a saucepan with gently simmering water that comes halfway up the side of the cup. Heat over low heat until the gelatine has dissolved.
Meanwhile combine the cream and honey in a saucepan and bring just to a simmer, stirring to combine well. Remove from the heat, stir in the gelatine mixture, then cool to room temperature. Add the yoghurt and whisk until smooth. Divide the mixture among four 300ml glasses and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Serve the chilled creams with tomato compote spooned over to taste.
