Tomato pudding with basil-mascarpone sauce
If you are missing the taste of tomatoes because the usual preparations are too acidic, try this benign and non-acidic way to enjoy the flavour of tomatoes.
Ingredients
For the tomato pudding
- 40 g butter
- 50 g plain flour
- 100 ml milk
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 large, ripe tomatoes –prepared: skinned, deseeded and chopped
- 5-6 large basil leaves, chopped
- 2 egg whites
- salt, white pepper to taste
For the basil-mascarpone sauce
- 100 ml vegetable stock
- 200g mascarpone
- 2 tbsp chopped basil leaves
- salt, white pepper to taste
Method
For the tomato pudding
- Prepare and grease four small (150 ml) ramekins, set aside. Preheat oven to 200 °C. Prepare a thick white sauce: in a saucepan melt the butter, add the flour, briefly heat while stirring. Add milk while vigorously stirring and cook until thickened. Remove from heat, add egg yolks, mix well and set aside to cool.
- Mix chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and chopped basil leaves, blend to a smooth puree, pass through a fine-meshed sieve, season to taste. Add to the thick white sauce and mix well.
- Whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt, add carefully to the white sauce / tomato mixture.
- Distribute mixture in prepared ramekins (only fill up to 2/3 of height), bake for 15-20 minutes until well risen.
For the basil-mascarpone sauce
- Bring the vegetable stock to the boil, add mascarpone and chopped basil leaves. Remove from heat, blend to a smooth puree, pass through a fine-meshed sieve and adjust thickness according to preference.
- To serve, turn out the puddings and place each on a bed of warm basil-mascarpone sauce.
- The dish also tastes good cold but the puddings will be more compact once cooled