Yelvertoft mum's latest from The Countryside Kitchen

Milly pictured with her family at their farm in Yelvertoft.

Milly is a farmer's wife who is mother to two young boys. They live on a livestock and arable farm.

I’ve a real passion for growing food and cooking delicious meals the whole family can enjoy. That’s why I created a food blog and Facebook page called No Fuss Meals for Busy Parents, to share recipe ideas, local ingredient suggestions as well as focus on food producers, providing a connection between the food produced in the UK and how to make quick and easy meals.

You can follow me on Facebook and Instagram @NoFussMealsForBusyParents or the website is: www.nofussmealsforbusyparents.food.blog I’ve also recently launched a podcast called ‘The Countryside Kitchen meets’ which can be listened to on all the major music streaming sites.

September is the time to gather in the crops. Whether that be out in the fields, watching the combine harvesters cut the wheat and barley or on the allotment, picking tomatoes, squash, sweetcorn, or blackberries. Now is the time to reap the reward of all the hard work and prepare to store everything in preparation for the colder months ahead.

The Summer holidays have been an incredibly busy time for us, juggling the farm work, entertaining the children, and running our businesses. Thankfully we’ve been spending most of the time in the kitchen garden or out in the fields, involving the children where possible, so long as it is safe to do so.

In the kitchen, I’ve started to batch cook some tomato passata to freeze and use at a later date. With a glut of tomatoes in the greenhouse, it’s the best way to use them up and store all that yummy goodness for the future.

I’ll often use the passata as a base for a chicken curry or a beef pasta dish. It is so versatile and works really well in the slow cooker, perfect for a quick, hearty, no fuss meal during the winter months.

My method for making the tomato passata is as follows:

Ingredients

1kg tomatoes, quartered

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tbsp of rapeseed oil

1tsp of caster sugar

Pinch of dried mixed herbs (oregano is nice) unless you plan to use for a curry, leave the herbs out.

Method

Chop the tomatoes and place in a saucepan with the oil and garlic. Cook on a medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once the tomatoes have started to collapse take off the heat and add the sugar.

Allow to cool and either bottle up in jars to keep in the fridge for a week or use freezer containers to freeze the sauce until needed.

Some people like to strain the sauce to remove the skins, but I like to leave it in as it increases the fibre and goodness in the dish.

You’ve now got the perfect base for a soup, stew, or pasta dish.

If you don’t have homegrown tomatoes and want to support a local Northamptonshire producer making an array of handmade jams, chutneys, and sauces, why not check out Friars Farm: https://www.friars-farm.com/

All produced to their own recipes, Friars Farm have been nominated and won lots of awards for their Chutneys, Jams and Marmalades such as the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink awards, Northants Muddy stilettos and the World Marmalade awards.

You can buy online on their website, or they often attend many local events and supply to outlets across Northamptonshire, including Brackley, Brigstock, Brixworth, Burton Latimer, Corby, Daventry, Desborough, Earls Barton, Higham Ferrers, Irthlingborough, Great Oakley, Kettering, Northampton, Olney, Oundle, Raunds, Rothwell, Rushden, Silverstone, Towcester, Thrapston and Wellingborough

Later this month it’s Love British Food Fortnight between 18th September and 3rd October, a 2-week campaign celebrating the bringing home of the harvest. If you don’t already do so, why not organise a harvest festival within your community. It doesn’t necessarily need to have a religious element to the celebration, more about the bringing together of people to enjoy food and be thankful, as well as supporting those less fortunate than us

If I’ve inspired you to get cooking or support a local food producer, please do let me know by getting in touch on the No Fuss Meals for Busy Parents page.