April 22nd
2006
Not sure if I'm alone on this, but the theory of the so called baby schema for me seems to also apply to smaller vegetables and fruits. May it be baby mangold, baby pineapple, baby Thai asparagus, baby chanterelles and what have you - it's per definition inevitable to not fall for those little cuties. Perhaps it is another marketing trick or the rediscovery of on ancient sort, I don't care, my taste buds will make the call whether or not its taste is on par with the cuteness factor.
Grape, Cherry, Ceylon, Florida Petite, Plum...and so on. The spectrum of different tomatoes blows your mind and our local farmers market is certainly of not much help in making a quick decision as not only locally grown tomatoes are being offered (depending on seasons), but from all over the world. Our latest tomato-esque discovery is a real keeper and goes by the name Datterinios, so we were told. Obviously we googled right after we got back, but couldn't find a single entry on these. Checking and double checking the spelling, the stall owner we got them at eventually told us - on our next visit - that they just made up the name - how funny, haha. "As proof", he showed us the boxes in which they have been shipped from Italy, simply labeled pomodori ciliegino. So besides the naming confusion, we found a little gem! They are smaller as grapes or cherries (the fruits) and even sweeter than cocktail tomatoes and kind of mess with your head taste-wise: I couldn't positively say I was eating something savory more vegetable like or something sweet, more fruit like. Wow. These would be a perfect choice for a sweet tomato jam! Note to self.
Albeit their real size, the picture above gives the impression of regular sized cherry/cocktail tomatoes, the picture to the left shows their actual size, 1:1. Yes, *cough* I sat there with the computer mouse to the right and the tomato and a dime to the left, resizing the image until monitor and the real-life THINGY in my hand finally where in line. (I know, I know, the geek in me made me too, I swear! PS: It obviously is dependent on your screen resolution and monitor size, so the full size really only is a full size at 1280x1024 and a 19'' display :)
So what to do with these little taste wonders? Well, some of them were served on white porcelain spoons as an amuse bouche for friends, halved and sprinkled with coarse sea salt. So simple, yet so tasty.
Others were drafted for another panna cotta experiment (goat cheese and basil), which was promising, but still needs some refinement, not quite ready "to ship" just yet...
The majority however found their destiny in a quick pasta dish. While I don't have lunch regularly, not that I don't want to, I'm just prone to forgetting about it over work and once it's 3pm, I prefer to grab an apple and start thinking about dinner. I really treasure self cooked dinners even throughout the week, and with the little time left on typical weekday evenings it doesn't have to be the full nine yards, a simple yet tasty dish prepared in less than 20 minutes is all it takes. Making a brief detour and shopping for what I'm in the mood for on my way home from work is key, I'm not necessarily good in planning ahead. This pasta is an easy one, not requiring too many ingredients: coppa (or bacon), stale (in the sense of 2-3 days old) bread, parmesan, pasta and fresh herbs are always in stock in our pantry. Plus the Datterinios, of course. And the result was fantastic, as the tomatoes are unbelievably full of flavor!
Fill a large stockpot with water and bring to a boil, then add salt. Cook pasta according to package directions.
Fry the chopped pancetta/coppa/bacon in a frying pan (no additional butter/fat needed!) until crisp and lightly browned, drain on a paper towel and set aside. No need to clean the pan just yet, you will need it soon again.
Heat 4 tbsp of olive oil in a separate, larger frying pan, add the chopped shallot and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add the tomato paste and be careful to not let the shallots gain color. Then add the halved cherry tomatoes and season to taste with coarse sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, a pinch of ground dried chiles or cheyenne pepper and let simmer for a few minutes.
Meanwhile heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in the earlier used “bacon pan”. Lightly fry small chunks of stale bread until golden brown. Set aside.
Add 4 to 6 tbsp of the "pasta water" to the simmering tomatoes and mash some or all of the now soft tomatoes with a wooden spoon.
Just before serving: Pour the sauce over the drained pasta, add the fresh herbs, the fried bacon bits and mix everything well. Divide among the plates, sprinkle with the fried bread chunks, grate some parmesan over it and - if you like - add some additional freshly ground black pepper and good olive oil!
Spaghetti with crushed cherry tomatoes/Datterinios
Recipe source: own creation
Prep time & cooking: 15-20 min.
.
Ingredients (serves 2):
250g Spaghetti
5 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 garlic clove, chooped
1 tbsp tomato paste
250g cherry tomatoes (or "Datterinios"), halved
coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper
5 slices of pancetta/coppa/bacon, chopped
1-2 handful stale bread, torn into tiny chunks
fresh basil and oregano to taste
fresh grated parmesan to taste
Wow, those little tomatoes are absolutely adorable! You could put of them on top of the panna cotta as an instant garnish! I never thought we would be able to pop sweet tomatoes in our mouths like grapes...
Looks delicious
So tiny & cute!!! Your stall holder sounds fun, making up tomato names to confuse eager foodies:)
I'm looking forward to reading about your goat cheese & basil panna cotta experiment soon - it sure looks tasty..
Wie putzig! Ich bin ohnehin schon Fan von den kleinen Cherry-Tomaten, aber noch kleiner? Werde meine Augen offen halten... Und die Pasta ist genau nach meinem Geschmack, allerdings hab ich das mit angebratenen Bröseln noch nie ausprobiert. Klingt lecker!
Your panna cotta looks beautiful, sorry to hear it didn't fulfill your expectations. 'Will look out for the tiny tomatoes, they look so charming. Btw, I love baby fruits/veggies, too!
Lovely pictures and inspiration. Funny how things go seasonal. I made similar shots on those tiny tomatoes a week ago, when I made a tomato/strawberry dessert! I love this simple feeling of getting home a basket full of simple delicious food for a simple meal!
I like everything miniture. The best grapes I had were these baby wine grapes. A bunch of them were even smaller than a quater, and you can just put them in your mouth and get the tiny little grapes off the vine. Absolutely delicious!
I like baby cherry tomatoes too. There should be dishes made from miniture everything.........maybe that will solve the obesity problem too :)
Hi! I'm an italian girl, i wonder every now and then thru your blog, which i think is really good and with great pictures!
I read what you wrote about the little cherries, which is right, the ones you got are the "ciliegino" kind, but the "datterino" is not an invented name, cos they are as well a small variety of tomatoes a little bit bigger and longer than the "ciliegino" one!
Have a look at this link so you have an idea how the datterino looks like!:-)
http://www.mareemontidisicilia.it/prodotti_tipici_ortaggi.htm
maybe you'll find them as well at yoru market, they are very good and tasty too and i usually eat like this, one after another!:-)
My compliments again for your blog, recipes and pics!
Terry
That's not dinner.
That's infanticide!
Oh please do share the panna cotta recipe which you have a lovely photo of.
I've never seen tomatoes so small, will have to check our farmers market at home. You are blessed with wonderful food available in Munich, I've been to the famous Viktualienmarket on various business trips, is has a great variety :)
Lovely looking panna cotta! I'd love to try a savory version of this Italian dessert. Hope your next turn will work out fine and you could share the recipe.
Beautiful presentation!
Cooool, die würzige Panna Cotta würde mich aber auch interessieren! Sieht schon mal top aus. Wenn das Rezept gereift ist, würde ich mich über eine Veröffentlichung sehr freuen. Tolle Seite, macht weiter so!
The recipe looks delicious. But where exactly did you buy the tomatoes? I love tomatoes, but good tasting ones are so hard to find in Munich, even in the height of the season. Tip or hint?
Diese kleinen Baby-Tomaten sind geschmacklich wirklich der Hammer, überhaupt nicht mit den regulären zu vergleichen. Auch sehr lecker sind kleine gelbe Früchte, ich weiß aber leider nicht, wie diese heißen.
Funny enough I just bought some of those tiny little tomatoes this week. They were called strawberry tomatoes. They came in a long plastic "clam shell" container attached to the vine...very pretty, and very tasty too! They had the thick skin you find on home grown tomatoes...sweet and tart and the same time. A few years ago, something called grape tomatoes appeared in the grocery stores. They are great too, and so easy to use in salads and recipes like yours. Both are decent products until tomatoes come into season in the summer.
Noirin, Great to see some more Munich-ians around :) Viktualienmarkt is always a great option. If you go there regularly, you can try different fruit/vegetable stalls and will soon find your personal favorite. I bought the "Datterinios" at the stall left to the cheese stalls and "Honighäusl". Another option is the weekly market at Weißenburgerstraße - simply because it's pretty close to where we live. You can find these kind of "Wochenmärkte" all over town, further information can be found here.
Caro, Die Idee von den angebratenen Bröseln hab ich zuerst in einem Buch von Jamie Oliver entdeckt, mittlerweile fast eine Standard-Zutat für verschiedene Pasta-Gerichte - wirklich sehr lecker! Je nach Gericht kann man die Brösel und das Olivenöl auch noch aromatisieren (Kräuter, Chilis,...).
Rob, Great idea about the dishes made from miniature everything... 'Have to think about a possible crew now ;)
Terry, Thanks for your kind comments! I checked out your link (thanks for providing it) and now I'm pretty confused, because the stand owner we got our "Datterinios" from, seems to not have made up the name but could have mixed up something as ours were smaller then the ones I found following your link and their shape was different, too... ;) But then, who needs labels, if the content tastes as great?!
David, Huh, now I'm scared! Will they sue me?
Jake, Yes, you're right, Viktualienmarkt is a wonderful place to shop. Sometimes a bit pricey (differs from stall to stall), but the quality and variety make up for it.
Ani, McTyler, Janik,
We'll keep working on it and have our friends test and decide, if they like it, we're going to post about it ;)
Megan, Do you usually buy regular or cherry tomatoes? Because I've been constantly disappointed by the regular sized ones - not by the cherry ones though, which I not only buy at the local farmers market but also at supermarkets. The "Datterinios" I found at the stall left to the cheese stalls and "Honighäusl" at Viktualienmarkt.
Markus, Du sprichst mir aus der Seele, die gelben Minis sind geschmacklich wirklich genial! Leider noch nicht so oft zu finden...
Hag, The breadth of different tomatoes is quite overwhelming, but what would I do without them, I haven't had great, well not even good local tomatoes in ages...unfortunately.
Beautiful pictures and recipes. The pasta one I am especially bookmarking. Thanks!
~Dianka
First, I'd like to say that I LOVE your website. Great recipes and stories. And second, the pasta looks delicious and for a stay at home mom of a 1 year old, it's simple and quick to prepare.
[...] A few weeks ago, I was going through my never-stopping-to-increase pile of cooking magazines and I stopped at the view of a picture, very similar to the one you see above. I paused and thought “Ca, c’est trop mignon!” (It is too cute). For a second, I wondered what attracted me to the cover of one of my Elle à table magazines more than to others. The colour of course, as red is really eye-catching, but then with the colour came the design: the tomatoes on a branch, which to me meant freshness, market, field, garden, summer. In less than a millisecond, I must have thought unconsciously about all of those things. And those details talked to me right away. This branch was a tiny little touch, yet it made the difference in the design of the featured recipe. In short, presentation was definitely what sold me on the idea of the recipe that I immediately decided I was going to make. As a coincidence, a week after I had made the dish, I caught a glimpse of a lovely photo posted by Nicky and Oliver at Delicious Days, and you might all remember it here. In this, I see pure beauty in a few tomatoes. Magical, don’t you think! You get a dream of gorgeous-looking tiny tomatoes. How can you not love tomatoes then? The recipe itself [...]
i have been lurking for a while and i can't remember if i ever left a message so here goes.
I just love the freshness of this dish. Your presentation of the cherry tomatoes just beautiful. The pasta had me drooling!
The Spaghetti with crushed cherry tomatoes/Datterinios was the first of your creations I tried after get familiar with your beautiful food blog. Its simple, rich in flavours and pleasant to the eys. I added a bit of chilli pepper flakes and the result was stunning.
Als aller erstes: ein riesen Kompliment an dich und deine Website! Die Bilder und das ganze Layout sind der absolute Wahnsinn. Echt tolle arbeit geleistet ;)
Zum Rezept: schnell, einfach, lecker. Und genau das mag ich daran. Wird bestimmt nicht das lezte Mal sein, dass ich dieses Gericht nachkoche.
[...] did cook the Datterinios and Pasta almost exactly, but I JUST CANNOT FIND PARMESAN CHEESE here. Maybe it’s under a different [...]
As a part-time Munich gal, I'm curious - where's your local farmer's market - or any you can recommend in/around Munich?