What would you say a LARGE tin of chopped tomatoes is?

[soon2befamilyof4]

Hi. I have a recipe for meatballs for 4-5 people (although only need 2-3 but will freeze if spare). It asks for a LARGE tin of chopped tomatos. What would you say this is? I have the normal 400g tins? I have more than one so can use 2 if needed but have already messed up 2 reciepes this week so don't want to do it again!

Please tell me what you think!

[bigTillyMint]

I suppose it is for the sauce. Depends how much sauce you want. Maybe one tin amongst 5 people wouldn't be much sauce?

[ilikeyoursleeves]

I would say a 400g tin, I haven't seen them any bigger than this and doubt they think you will have cash and carry size tins at home!

[Lilyloo]

I would say the 400g rather than the small half tins ???

[mrsmaidamess]

400g I would say.

[christiana]

Message withdrawn

[soon2befamilyof4]

I will copy and paste the receipe so it is a bit more clear what I am doing:

1 large red pepper, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
340g/12oz extra lean minced beef
340g/12oz extra lean pork mince, or lean turkey mince as an alternative.
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons of paprika
284ml/½ pint stock made with chicken Bovril
1 large tin of chopped tomatoes
113g/4oz very low fat fromage frais
salt and pepper to taste

1. Finely chop half of the onion and half of the red pepper with one of the crushed cloves of garlic.
   
   

1. In a bowl mix the beef and pork mince together with the chopped vegetables, include one tablespoon of paprika and the beaten egg with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Shape the mixture into Brussels sprout-size meatballs.

1. Bring half of the Bovril stock to the boil in a large frying pan, then add the meatballs a few at a time and cook until they have coloured and firmed up a little. Leave the part- cooked meatballs to one side.

1. In a large ovenproof lidded casserole dish or saucepan bring the remainder of the stock to the boil. Add the other half of the finely chopped onion and crushed clove of garlic, cook for 5 minutes. Add the remainder of the finely chopped red pepper and cook for another 5 minutes.

1. Add the 2 tablespoons of paprika and the chopped tomatoes, stir and add seasoning if you think necessary. Simmer for a further 5 minutes then add the meatballs to the sauce. Cover with lid and place in the centre of the oven at 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 for approximately 50 minutes.

1. Remove from the oven and just before serving stir in the fromage frais.

[soon2befamilyof4]

I would also be grateful if somebody could confirm this:
I fry half the meatballs (doing so now) and then put the others into the saucepan RAW at the same time as I put the cooked/fried ones in?

[CharCharGabor]

I personally would use 2 tins with those ingredients. You can always freeze any leftovers.

[soon2befamilyof4]

And it says don't add fraimas frais if freezing, which I had hoped to do, and add it when reheating. I don't generally have it in the fridge so I have to buy speciallly - can I def not freeze it?

[biskybat]

it doesn't say to fry half the meatballs, you're supposed to brown all of them and then add them all to the sauce. Reread your recipe

[soon2befamilyof4]

I know I can freeze leftovers - but they will be all mixed in as you cook the meatballs in the sauce?

[SlightlyMadScotland]

No don't add raw meatballs and cooked meatballs to teh same pan unless you want to risk food poisoning.

I would change this a bit:

I would fry the meatballs in batches to give them a little colour and then pop in the casserole dish. Then cook more and put inteh casserole until they are all done. They don't have to be fully cooked though.

Then I would fry the garlic & onions + preppers from step 4. Then add the tomatoes and stock to teh this pan bring to teh boil to pick up teh flavours and juices from the meat. Then pour over meatbalsl and stick in oven

[SlightlyMadScotland]

And yes it means cook every meatball half the way through rather than cok half of them.

[soon2befamilyof4]

OK major about the frying the meatballs thing! I had already done half and used all the stock by the time I saw that so the others I just fried in a little oil, but they didn't come out as good, fell apart a bit but not too bad.

I didn't have a proper oven dish with lid either so have used one with tin foil over it - do you think this is ok?

I can't belive it is 9.40 and I still have to wait another 50 mins for it to be cooked!!!

The sauce doesn't cover all the meatballs - do you think it matters? Do I need to stir it?

[SlightlyMadScotland]

It will be fine....I would stir half way. The sauce shouldn't necessarily cover the meatballs. i faind it better if they are only half covered.

[soon2befamilyof4]

Great. I just used one tin of tomatoes in the end, seemed to be enough. Think 2 tins would be too much. I REALLY hope this turns out to be nice, we have not had much sucess since I started cooking from scratch!

Do you think pasta is the best thing to serve it with?

[SlightlyMadScotland]

Yup deffo pasta.

1 tine will be infe as you have stokck too.

[soon2befamilyof4]

Ok great, thanks. Most of the stock absorbed into the meatballs?

Going to give it a stir now and see how it is doing.

[soon2befamilyof4]

It is very watery - do you think it will be ok to leave it uncovered from now on to reduce it a bit?

[SlightlyMadScotland]

Yes or add some cornflour.

TBH I have seen better and clearer and easier meatball recipes...

[soon2befamilyof4]

This is from slimming world.

I don't have any cornflour I am afraid.

[SlightlyMadScotland]

I am sure it will be fine.

I personally wouldn't add the fromage frais...but try it and see.

[soon2befamilyof4]

It is YUMMY. This is re-gaining my enthusiasum for cooking. Was loosing it as 2 things I made this week were awful and the other things were easy things iyswim. But this has stopped me from giving up.

THANK YOU to everybody who has helped me . Mumsnet is playing a big part in helping me to cook from scratch and change my diet for the better. I know that sounds really cheesy but honestly, I don't know how I would do it without mumsnet!

[soon2befamilyof4]

I will definatly be cooking this again. I am going to print out the recipe so I don't loose it. It even passed the test with DH who is the fussiest person ever!

[SlightlyMadScotland]

A tin of tomatoes is sooooo versatile. They can be turned into a chilli, bolognese, lasagne, pasta arabiatta (which is the easiest thing in the world to prep if you are interested!), cottage pie. All within half an hour.