2 pounds of ripe yellow tomatoes, cut into large chunks

5 large eggs

1-2 teaspoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon of salt

A small pinch of saffron (optional)

2 tablespoons of grated hard cheese of your choice (Parmesan, Asiago, Pecorino, Myzithra, etc.)

 

In a flat skillet (more surface area allows better and faster evaporation), sauté the yellow tomato chunks in olive oil over medium-high heat until they are soft and start to fall apart. Continue to cook for 10 minutes to allow the tomatoes to get really soft and thicken up a bit; stirring frequently. You want the tomato purée to reduce down to approximately 2 cups Meanwhile, grease your baking container(s) with softened butter and arrange them in a deep, large baking pan. Preheat the oven to 325 °F. After cooking the tomatoes for 10 minutes, take the skillet off the heat and allow the tomatoes to cool down for 5 minutes. Measure out only 2 cups of the tomato purée and put it into a blender, add the eggs, salt, and saffron; liquefy. Put the liquefied mixture through a fine-meshed strainer. You should end up with 4 cups of the custard mixture. Pour the custard into prepared container(s). Put the large baking pan in which you have put the filled container(s) into the preheated oven. carefully pour boiling water into the large pan just until the inner container(s) is/are half-way submerged. Bake until the custard is set around the edges and is slightly jiggly in the middle. Baking times vary depending on the size of your containers. It takes exactly 30 minutes for the custard to set in an 11×7 ceramic baking dish.