A walk from Dad's orchard very early in the morning is always a wonderful experience. We picked a lot of vegetables, tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, etc. I stopped at the okra. The truth was I had not seen up close how the okra is collected. I was watching the plant ζε it looked like cotton! It has a hard stalk, and its leaves are broad with fluff on it. I was used to the cuts we got in the popular or the frozen ones! Find dad, a little big is not it? I ask. She tells me no, she is the right size tender, and soft. Look at their hat !! bright green !! Every two days we look at them and collect them, he said. They should not exceed 2-3 cm. Because then they sporulate and become woody. He put them in a bowl, chose the most ripe tomatoes, plenty of parsley, and gave them to me. Now let's sit on the terrace, under the mulberry tree, to clean them. I make coffee, I take a bag, a small knife, and we lay down to clean, while Dad sees him walking around to gather wood for the oven, and to bring me the pan that I will put to sunbathe on the roof….
Ingredients
- 3 potatoes cut
- 500 g okra
- 2 dried onions, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons sliced garlic
- 1 sliced carrot
- 50g olive oil for the beginning + 50g for the rest of the cooking
- 4 ripe tomatoes passed in the grater
- 1 κ σ πελτές
- 1 kg sugar (optional)
- 1 matte chopped parsley
- A little vinegar
- Salt Pepper
Directions
- With a small knife, clean the caps from the okra all around, being careful not to reach the okra body. The cut is made conically. Then we wash them, drain them and put them in a pan and mix them with salt and vinegar. Then place them in the strong sun for about two hours. We do this to shield them so that their liquid does not run but also to make them crispier in cooking.
- Then rinse them and heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the okra and sauté for 5 minutes without stirring, but with it shake the pot from the handles. Then add the pulp, the onion, then the garlic. Then add the tomato (keep 1/3 of the grated tomato for the oven), sugar (if desired) salt and pepper. If you use crushed tomatoes you will need to add a little water. If you use fresh because it has a lot of liquids you will not need water or sugar because fresh is sweet on its own.
- Bring to a boil for 5-8 minutes, and turn on the oven to preheat. Then we place the okra in the hull (I try to spread them nicely with the help of a spatula), then I throw the rest of the tomatoes on top, the potatoes and the carrots, and the herbs and olive oil. Cover the hull and bake in a strong oven (around 200The) for half an egg. Then I uncover the hull and bake for another 10 minutes to caramelize the sauce.
- Serve with a slice necessarily, toast, and wine!
English 
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