Tomato Spackle
Learn to grill like a pro.
Article By: Weightwatchers.com
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With this recipe for Tomato Spackle from his book Charred and Scruffed (Artisan, 2012), grilling expert/innovator and author Adam Perry Lang reminds us that homemade condiments add amazing depth of flavor to anything straight off the grill. This one is especially delicious with steak.
Adam Perry Lang’s spackles are “textural, highly flavored, often highly reduced and concentrated ingredients that you just dip into or dab onto a forkful of barbecue. They are a finishing touch, a powerful uppercut that jolts the senses.”
Tomato Spackle
Adapted from Charred and Scruffed (Artisan, 2012)
I grew up thinking there were two kinds of tomato preparations used for finishers. The first was ketchup, which I know many people love, but it’s not one of my favorites. The second was tomato jelly, which is something that is often presented as a house gift, and then, years later, you end up saying, “Hey, honey, this has been on the shelf since 2004. Is it OK to get rid of it?”
This spackle is as intense as ketchup but so much more layered and nuanced in flavor — just as things usually are when you make them from scratch.
Makes about 2 1/2 cups
1
PointsPlus® value per (2 Tbsp) serving
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 5 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
- 1/2 cup finely chopped Spanish onion
- 1 tsp sea or kosher salt, or to taste
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 5 cups coarsely chopped, drained canned tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped, drained sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add garlic and cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add onion, season with salt and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes.
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Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add canned and sun-dried tomatoes, red wine vinegar, oregano, sugar, and garlic salt and cook until tomatoes have broken down and juices are reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Season with pepper to taste and additional salt if necessary.
- Using an immersion blender, blitz mixture for 3 seconds, or just until coarsely puréed; spackle should still be chunky. Or transfer to a regular blender and pulse to a coarse purée.
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Spread mixture in an even 1/2-inch-thick layer on a parchment-lined dehydrator tray (or trays) and dry in dehydrator at 105°F for 3 hours, or until spackle is consistency of tomato paste. Alternatively, spread on parchment-lined baking sheet, put in convection oven set at lowest setting, prop door ajar with handle of wooden spoon, and dry for 3 hours, or until spackle is consistency of tomato paste.
- Using a rubber spatula, scrape spackle into a bowl or other container. Stir in parsley and remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Spackle can be used right away, but for best flavor, refrigerate in a tightly sealed container for at least 1 day, or up to 4 days, before using.