It has been a month since my last newsletter and I so hope that you are all staying safe and well. Such strange times but amidst the uncertainty and the tragedies there are things to be grateful for, not least this amazing weather which Bert is certainly enjoying! One of the big positives is the many generous acts, big and small, that are happening across the country - communities rallying to support each other, all the people who have volunteered to help in whatever way they can, and the incredible amount of money that has been raised in so many different ways for our wonderful NHS - Captain Tom is a legend - happy 100th birthday this week Captain Tom!
Most of you have probably heard about The 2.6 Challenge which is an initiative that has been launched by an amalgamation of hundreds of UK charities, big and small in order to raise funds at a time when so many fundraising events have been cancelled, including today's London Marathon which is the world's biggest one day fundraiser. The idea behind it is that people are encouraged to undertake any "2.6" related activity - it can be a 2.6 mile run, baking 26 biscuits, cycling 26 miles ... anything you want, and then you make a donation to your chosen charity - with five of us here at home we are doing a huge amount of cooking and eating so we have decided to do a "Fino family challenge" which is to share 26 recipes with you over the course of the next 26 days. I will be making a donation to charity, and I will be adding the recipes to the website, but the best way to see what we are up to will be on my Instagram highlights so if you're interested make sure you are following here - https://www.instagram.com/fino_oliveoil/
So here's the first recipe - TOMATO AND BASIL GRANITA - this is honestly so simple and one of the most delicious things I have tasted - it is so refreshing but do use ripe tomatoes as they are lovely and sweet.
TOMATO AND BASIL GRANITA - serves 6 as a starter or great as an 'amuse bouche"
400g ripe tomatoes, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tbsp sugar, 1 clove garlic, 1 tbsp Fino white balsamic, salt and pepper, 10 basil leaves
Chop the tomatoes and place in a bowl with all the other ingredients except the basil. Cover and leave to macerate at room temperature, ideally overnight. Next put the tomato mixture into a whizzer and blend, then strain through a sieve. At this point add the shredded basil leaves to the smooth tomatoey liquid and pour into a shallow dish, cover and place in the freezer. After 30 mins remove, and using a fork slightly break up the ice crystals which will have started to form around the outside before returning to the freezer. Do this three times by which stage it should all be frozen and it will be ready to serve. Either serve on it's own or with some warm bread - I hope you will love it!
For those of you who might be wondering all is still operating as normal here at Fino HQ - thanks to the hero delivery guys I am sending orders out every day and I have plenty of stock so do head to the website if you need anything.
Other than that do just stay safe.
Susie x