Tomato Black Pepper Granita Food

GREEN PEPPER AND TOMATO SALAD

Steps:

• Combine peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, parsley in a bowl with your fingertips. Squeeze the juice of the lemon with the lemon half sitting upright. This will help prevent the seeds from falling into the bowl. The lemon juice will spill down over the sides of the lemon and the seeds will remain with the fruit. Squeeze the juice evenly over the salad. If the lemon is under-ripe, microwave it for 10 seconds before you cut into it. Next, sprinkle a tablespoon of vinegar over the salad -- just eyeball it. Drizzle the extra-virgin olive oil over the salad, add the salt, pepper and cumin. Toss again. Taste to adjust seasonings and serve.

HEIRLOOM TOMATO SALAD WITH TOMATO GRANITA

Steps:

• To prepare granita, place vinegar, oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and seeded peeled tomato in a blender or food processor; process until smooth. Place tomato mixture in an 8-inch square baking dish; cover and freeze until firm, stirring twice during first 2 hours. Remove mixture from freezer; scrape entire mixture with a fork until fluffy.
• To prepare salad, arrange tomato slices on a platter. Sprinkle with pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Top with granita. Sprinkle with basil.
• Serving size = 3 tomato slices and 2 tablespoons granita.

TOMATO GRANITA

Steps:

• Simmer the water and dissolve the sugar to form a simple syrup. Pour over the tomatoes and let cool.
• Using a blender, puree the tomatoes, syrup and remaining ingredients until perfectly smooth. Taste for seasoning. Remember: The flavors will be slightly muted when this is chilled.
• Place in your icecream maker and follow manufacturers instructions OR.
• Pour into a non-reactive, freezer-safe dish and place in the freezer. Stir this mixture every hour until firm. The texture will depend on the tomatoes. Higher sugar content produces softer granita and less produces harder-icier granita.
• Pull out of the freezer a few minutes before serving, to soften. Shave the granita ice with a fork or icecream scoop.

TOMATO & BASIL GRANITA

Steps:

• Chop the tomatoes and place in a bowl with all the other ingredients except the basil leaves. If you have time, leave them to macerate at room temperature overnight. Blitz in a blender - in batches, then strain through a fine sieve. Shred the basil leaves and stir through.
• Clear a shelf in the freezer and place a sided metal tray in to chill. Make up your mix and leave to cool, then pour into the tray and cover with cling film. Freeze the liquid until frozen around the edges and slushy in the middle. Use a fork to break up the ice into smaller crystals. Return the tray to the freezer. Repeat the breaking up process every half hour (at least three times) until it's completely frozen and the texture of snow. For a quicker method: freeze the mixture in an ice tray, then blitz the cubes in a food processor just before serving. The texture will be slightly slushier, but just as delicious.

TOMATO BLACK PEPPER GRANITA

Steps:

• Quarter tomatoes and in a food processor, puree them with the sugar until smooth.
• Pour puree through a sieve, pressing hard on solids, into a shallow metal baking pan.
• Stir in pepper and balsamic vinegar until combined well.
• Freeze mixture, covered, stirring and crushing lumps wiht a fork about every 30 minutes, until no longer slushy but not frozen solid, 2 to 3 hours.
• Just before serving, scrape granita with a fork to lighten texture and break up ice crystals.