This is one of my favorite dishes ever since my childhood. Aromatic and flavorful, yet simple and quick to prepare, usually served as a quick summer dinner.
Looking back, that was a long time before computers, TV-s (only 2 channels, and broadcasting only in evening hours) and before the internet was event part of anybody’s wildest imagination. All my free time I used to spend outdoors, in social circle of my close friends. Summer nights were cool, a pleasant relief from scorching daylight hours. It was ideal environment to enjoy either a Hide-and-Seek, climbing pine trees or just chasing each other in a pitch dark, we were never bored. Often we were delighted having a bright moon night, with a clear sky, covered with millions of twinkling stars. At such evenings we enjoyed simply laying on the ground, staring at the stars, identifying constellations, speaking about the distant worlds, listening our own call for the adventure, part of our boyhood dreams.
My home, me and my sister some 30 years ago
In between we would usually break away, run home for a quick dinner, before coming back and continuing with our quest until deep in the night.
I could smell a pleasant, nose biting sweet tomato scent, as I was approaching to my home’s wide open door. A Sataras dinner was just about ready.
Ripe and succulent tomatoes are essential for the best flavor and they are at the core of this dish appeal. It is pretty clear that no tomato that you can buy in grocery stores will meet this criteria, none, that is guaranteed. Speaking from a stand point of somebody living in Canada one is left with three reasonable options:
- grow your own tomatoes
- u-pick tomatoes in late August and September at the local farms
- canned Italian tomatoes
I make Sataras several times a week through much of the season, August and September. I usually have it for lunch and prefer it just with few slices of my own home made sourdough bread. Simple, tasty, nutritious and filling meal.
Through the rest of the year I make it from time to time by using La San Marzano Italian canned tomatoes I get from Costco. The taste is wonderful and they are very inexpensive; I think you get six 760 ml cans for about $9.
As a variation you can drop the eggs and make this a pure vegetable based meal.
I have been planning to make a blog about this dish for a quite some time. I hope that my kids as well as many other students may try incorporating it in their meal plans. With a few easily accessible ingredients this is very easy dish to make; it takes only about 30 minutes, it is very economical, it doesn’t require any particular cooking experience or skill, if you know how to chop vegetables you can make it. And when it comes to taste it surely beats by long shot any store bought or campus restaurant made meal.
| Prep Time | 5 minutes |
| Cook Time | 25 minutes |
| Servings |
servings
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- 1 medium sized onion coarsely chopped
- 1 bell pepper coarsely chopped
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 2-3 large ripe tomatoes substitute with about 350ml La San Marzano Italian canned tomatoes
- fine sea salt to taste
Ingredients
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|
- Coarsely chop bell pepper and onion, peal a garlic clove and crush it with the flat side of the knife.
- Lightly beat two eggs.
- Wash and cut ripe fresh tomatoes or hand crush canned tomatoes.
- Over medium heat (5 out of 10) add olive oil to a preheated medium size skillet. Add a garlic clove and cook for a few minutes until slightly browned.
- Add chopped onion, add salt and stir.
- Add chopped pepper, stir and cook until pepper is softened, about 10 minutes.
- Add cut/crushed tomatoes, stir and lower the heat to low (2 out of 10). Cook for 15-20 minutes until the water evaporated and the mixture is thickened.
- Stir in lightly beaten eggs until fully cooked, about 2-3 minutes. Serve immediately.
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