HOT TOMATO JELLY

Tomato jelly is nice chopped and served with hot sausages and
rice, curried chicken, or shellfish in a thick mayonnaise-type sauce.
It would also make a very low-calorie starter on its own, or as an
alternative to the shredded lettuce in a prawn cocktail – and it
doesn’t have to be ‘hot’ either; if you don’t like Tabasco sauce, leave
it out, although I think it’s a bit bland and boring without.
Alternatively, make the jelly in a ring tin then turn out onto a
plate when set and fill with any of the foods mentioned above, in
which case you’d better double up the quantities below as this
amount of jelly probably wouldn’t be enough for most ring tins.
1 tin of plum tomatoes
1⁄2 sachet of powdered gelatine
1⁄4 pint (150 ml) boiling water
Tabasco sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Celery, onion or garlic salt
1 tsp sugar
(Basil, parsley, chives, Herbes de Provence)
Method
1. Purée the tomatoes in a blender or food processor with all the
other ingredients, except the gelatine.
2. Dissolve 1⁄2 sachet of gelatine in 1⁄4 pint (150 ml) of water, or
according to the instructions on the packet. The water needs to
be very hot in order to dissolve the gelatine crystals properly
and the best way to do this is to make it up in a bowl over a
saucepan of boiling water. Always add the gelatine to the water,
not the other way round, and stir well with a fork for about a
minute.
3. Pour the puréed tomatoes into a bowl and thoroughly mix in
the gelatine.
4. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 2 hours.