Pap with tomato sauce
Soft maize pap served with a gently simmered tomato and onion sauce. 🌽
Ingredients
- 300 g fine or medium white maize meal, not precooked, intended for pap
- 1200 ml water for the pap, plus 100 ml hot water held in reserve if needed
- 800 g canned chopped tomatoes, including their juice, with no added salt
- 200 g peeled onion
- 10 g peeled garlic
- 20 g sunflower oil
- 30 g tomato paste with no added salt
- 100 ml water for the sauce
- 4 g salt in total: 2 g for the pap and 2 g for the sauce
- 1 g sweet paprika
- 0.5 g ground black pepper
Preparation
During the 15 min preparation time, weigh the ingredients, finely chop the onion and garlic, and prepare the tomatoes and tomato paste. Take 300 ml from the 1200 ml of water for the pap and mix it with the maize meal in a bowl: this cold slurry helps prevent lumps. Divide the salt between 2 small dishes to avoid seasoning the same pan twice.
Begin the 35 min cooking time by heating the oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 8 min, stirring, without aiming for dark browning. Meanwhile, start heating the remaining 900 ml of water for the pap in a thick-bottomed saucepan that is deep enough. Have a whisk, a sturdy spoon and a suitable lid ready.
At the end of the 8 min, add the garlic to the sauté pan and stir for 1 min. Stir in the tomato paste and paprika, then cook for another 1 min to soften the paste’s raw flavour. Add the tomatoes, the 100 ml of water for the sauce, its allotted 2 g of salt and the pepper. Stir, gently scraping the bottom.
Let the sauce simmer uncovered for the remaining 25 min over low heat, stirring regularly. It should retain some pieces of onion while becoming thick enough to coat a spoon, without drying around the edges. If it reduces too quickly, partially cover it instead of automatically adding water. The tomatoes should lose their raw flavour without burning or becoming a thick paste.
As the sauce begins simmering, check that the pap water is boiling. Add its 2 g of salt, stir the maize slurry, which will have settled, then gradually pour it into the water while whisking. Spend the next 3 min stirring over medium heat: the mixture thickens quickly. Then turn the heat down to its lowest setting as soon as the first thick bubbles appear.
Cover the pap and cook gently for 20 min, working it with the spoon every 4 to 5 min. Lift the lid away from your face, as splashes can burn. Scrape the bottom and sides, then fold the mixture towards the centre. If it becomes too stiff to stir, gradually incorporate a little of the reserved 100 ml of hot water.
Carefully taste a small amount cooled on a spoon: the pap should be uniform, without a raw, gritty sensation. For this soft version, it holds a mound but releases easily from the spoon. Remove from the heat and rest, covered, for 2 min. Together with the 3 min of stirring and 20 min of gentle cooking, this fills the sauce’s 25 min simmering time.
Check the sauce and crush a few tomato pieces with the back of the spoon if needed. Divide the pap between 4 plates, then spoon the sauce alongside or over only part of it to preserve the contrast in textures. Serve immediately. The schedule assumes the water is boiling when simmering begins; otherwise, extend the pap’s cooking time, never shorten it.