Celebrate Italian cuisine and tomatoes in style!

The tomatoes rise in Italy was not a quick one. In fact, many of the Italian dishes we consider “staples” that use tomatoes are actually quite young, born in the late nineteenth century when the tomato saw its greatest expansion throughout Italy.

We’ve collated our top 5 Italian inspired recipes below using tomatoes with some ideas to make tasty midweek meals to something a bit more luxurious to wow your family with.

Creamy tomato and basil pasta bake

This veggie pasta bake is super simple to make and ready in less than an hour, it’s an easy mid-week filler for all the family.  Add in any meat if you don’t want a veggie dish.

Recipe Source Olive Magazine, view recipe here

Classic Pizza Tomato Sauce

If you’re making the effort to make your own pizzas then it’s really worth spending a little time cooking a tasty rich and herby tomato pizza sauce to spread over the dough too. This recipe is enough for 4 large pizzas so it also is great to freeze along with extra dough for a quick go-to meal at any time. To make a smoother sauce use a handheld blender to blitz the sauce.

This recipe will cover 4 large pizzas, but any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or can be frozen for up to 1 month.

Recipe  Source Good to Know, view recipe here

Bread & tomato soup (Pappa al pomodoro)

This Tuscan soup is delicious and family-friendly. The recipe adds roasted cherry tomatoes, but it also works really well just with good-quality tinned tomatoes.

Recipe source: Jamie Oliver, view the recipe here

No stir tomato and basil risotto

This easy, cheesy vegetarian risotto is bursting with Italian flavours and requires virtually no stirring – just what you need on a weeknight.

Recipe source: Delicious, find the recipe here

Italian Baked Meatballs

This indulgent Italian bake with juicy beef meatballs in passata sauce and a melting mozzarella topping. Serve this family favourite straight from the oven and watch everyone dig in.

Recipe source – Olive, find the recipe here