Tomato Jam

...Well, I am Italian. What else were you expecting? 

Hetalia: Axis Powers belongs to  Hidekaz Himaruya and Gentosha

S. Italy's character song, Oishii Tomato no Uta/The Delicious Tomato Song, is sung by Namikawa Daisuke

Making jam out of tomatoes might sound freakish to some, but please consider this: tomatoes are actually fruit. There's nothing weird about turning fruit into jam, right?

Right.

Just trust me on this one, hmm? 

Tomato Jam
Ingredients: 

* 2 cups pureed tomato (bottled sauce is fine as long as it's just tomato)
* 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
* 1/3 cup candied fruit, diced
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 6-7 whole cardamom pods
* a slosh of Alchermes (rum will do, too!)

1.  Pour the pureed tomatoes (or fresh bottled tomato sauce) into a saucepan. You can use a pan if your're in a hurry - the whole process will be faster that way, but you will need to keep  an eye on it all the time, otherwise it will burn. 

2.  Add sugar. Put on low fire and keep stirring with a wooden spoon, until all the sugar dissolves and the mixture bubbles gently. 

3.  Take the spices. Oooh pretty!

4.  Throw them into the tomato-and-sugar mix. Let it all simmer for about half an hour, stirring occasionally. Don't let it to its own devices or it will burn! *

5.  Once it has thickened to a proper jam-like consistency, remove it from heat. Fish the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods out of it. Pop them into your mouth while no one is looking. 

6.  Pour the jam into a bowl. It is perfectly fine to call it done at this stage, but to make it jummier, add the diced candied fruit and slosh in a little rum (or, ideally, Alchermes). 

Let it cool off, stirring from time to time so that the fruit is distributed evenly.

7.  Can your tomato jam, or bake it into a pie (the doses I gave you yeld enough to fill a medium, 8 servings-worth pie). Or you might want to try it as cookie filling, or just eat it with a spoon.
I grant you, next time you'll want to make a double batch!


* = It will burn anyway, unless you sing the Oishii Tomato no Uta the whole time while making this. True story!