Tomato Bread...pondering

[jeep4x4greg]

Excuse my cooking ignorance here (late 20's single male is my excuse!)

I made some squash bread last week.... (3 eggs beaten, 2 cups white sugar, 1 cup vegetable oil, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 3 cups all-purpose flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg, 2 cups shredded summer squash....bake at 325)


So it got me thinking.... is there any reason that i couldn't make a tomato bread in a similar way?

I was thinking:
-replace the cinnamon and nutmeg with some Italian herbs (basil, oregano, etc)
-cut back on the sugar, add some salt.
-get rid of the vanilla
-replace 2cup squash with some skinned, de-seeded, tomatoes that I've run through a food processor
-could i replace the vegitable oil with olive oil?? (not that critical, but it might give it a more Mediterranean kick)

The goal....ideally....would be to have a moist bread that tastes sorta like a pasta sauce or pizza sauce.

I could also freeze it as needed ...since I tend to make 5x more of anything than i actually need at any given time



your thoughts? any reason this wouldn't work? I tried searching online and couldn't find any similar recipes....I'm sure someone here has done it...or has enough baking expertise to know if it would work.

[NCLee]

Once you get good results from a recipe, there's nothing like experimenting! :)

Couple of thoughts come to mind. First, re: oil. There shouldn't be any problem with making the olive oil substitute. Although I'm not sure how much flavor difference you'll notice.

Regarding substituting tomatoes for squash, the main thing that comes to mind is the moisture content. I'm thinking that after quartering and seeding the tomatoes, you may need to squeeze quite a bit of the juice out of them before putting into the food processor. So that you have approximately the same amount of liquid as the squash adds to the recipe.

Another thought is to take another look at those tomato bread recipes. Study the proportion of tomato (and how they are prepared) to the flour. That should help you cut down on the number of experiments before you get it done the way you want it. If you haven't already done so, take a look at their spices and ratios of same.

Good luck with your experiments. That's the way most great recipes come about.

Lee

[jeep4x4greg]

good suggestions Lee.

Any ideas on best way to press out water from the 'maters? all I can think of is using a colander/strainer and just mooshing them....

[NCLee]

Just squeeze the quarters in your hand. Or, if you have enough to experiment, go ahead and run them through the food processor, then put in a strainer over a bowl to catch the tomato juice.

Lee

[CanNerd]

You may have to adjust down your liquid to account for the excess in the tomatoes that you can't remove. My recipe actually uses tomato paste so it does not have that issue.

Tomato Basil Bread

1 1/8 cups water
3 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons dry milk
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 tablespoons dried basil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place the ingredients in the bread pan in the order recommended by your machine's manufacturer. Process on the appropriate cycle.

This recipe yields a 1 1/2 pound loaf.

[Mom5farmboys]

Sounds like a great idea you've got going, I would think maybe some garlic or garlic powder and some shredded cheese right in the batter would be tasty too! Maybe chop some onions and sprinkle on top of the batter before baking, so they get all roasted, toasty, and sweet. Let us know how it turns out!!

[Anon001]

The tomato bread that I've made uses tomato juice instead of tomatoes or tomato sauce. It just goes to show that you can experiment. If there's something that you don't like about it, change it up the next time... but keep experimenting.

[annabella1]

I can't eat tomatoes any more so I use either pumpkin puree or apple butter to substitute for tomato sauce. I don't see why you couldn't substitute the other way around. But you will have to account for moisture content