Recipes
Introducing Melissa
We are absolutely thrilled to announce that we will be working with Chef Melissa Thompson for the foreseeable future! Chef Melissa Thompson will be composing monthly seasonal recipes featuring our Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil's, exclusively for you.
I’m Melissa Thompson, and I run Food & Recipe project Fowl Mouths
Back in 2014, while working in national journalism, I started a monthly supper club from my home.
This grew into a popular restaurant pop-up, taking over kitchens in pubs and cafes across London. I paused when I had a baby in 2018...and never went back.
Instead I started developing recipes for brands, cooking, barbecuing and writing about the hospitality industry.
Of Maltese and Jamaican descent, food from all over the world excites me. I am a Good Food columnist and my written work has appeared in The Guardian, Vittles, Condé Naste Traveller, National Geographic, Waitrose Magazine and more.
I am co-director of the British Library Food Season, a regular panellist on BBC R4’s The Kitchen Cabinet and give in-house talks to corporations as well as consult about race, diversity and inclusion.
Get in touch if you’d like to discuss any upcoming projects, writing commissions or your favourite ice cream flavour (mine is brown bread or fior di latte).
Melissa
https://www.fowlmouths.co.uk/
Confit Tomatoes
This year the tomato plants in my garden have been abundant. Even now, in early October, I am somehow picking fruits from withered plants that are very near the end of their lives.
For me there’s always a melancholy to the end of summer and all the produce that comes during it. But these confit tomatoes are the perfect way of extending the season so they can be enjoyed long after the plants have been pulled up.
They are great on toast; the softened garlic cloves spread first before the tomatoes and shallots are piled on top. They’re also excellent tossed with pasta, finished with just a grating of parmigiano and a crack of fresh black pepper.
And don’t worry about the amount of olive oil this recipe calls for. It feels indulgent to use it with such abandon but nothing is wasted - flavoured by the ingredients, the oil is beautifully fragrant and makes an excellent base for future cooks. Once you’ve eaten all the tomatoes, just use the oil as you would normally.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 1hr 30m
Ingredients:
800g-1kg tomatoes
8 shallots (round ones, not banana ideally), peeled and cut in half width-ways
1 bulb of garlic, cloves peeled
A few sprigs of fresh thyme or oregano
1tsp sea salt flakes
350ml The Gay Farmer Single Estate Early Harvest extra virgin olive oil
Pre-heat oven to 160C conventional (140C fan). Slice the bigger tomatoes lengthways, add to a bowl and drizzle with The Gay Farmer olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Spread onto a tray lined with baking paper, cut-side facing up. Roast for 1 hour.
Add the remaining oil to a pan with the remaining smaller tomatoes (left whole), garlic, shallots, thyme or oregano and a sprinkle of salt. Top up with oil until the tomatoes are mostly covered and heat on a hob over medium heat. As soon as the oil starts to bubble, reduce the heat and simmer
gently for an hour. Turn the tomatoes, garlic and shallots halfway through so they cook all over, being careful to not squash them as they soften.
Once the tomatoes, garlic and shallots are softened, transfer them to a large sterilised glass jar. Top up with the oven-roasted tomatoes, ensuring they are all fully submerged in oil, and store in the fridge until ready to use. They will remain good for 1 month.
