To the food-lover who swoons from fabulous peak-season produce, there’s nothing more exciting than gorgeous, ripe tomatoes in late summer.
Although their main season has already peaked in North Texas, a second wave should be on the way. “We usually get a small fall crop once the temperatures start to cool off,” says Billy Can Can executive chef Matt Ford, who has two large plots at Lake Highlands Community Garden. Until then, supermarket bins should continue to be filled with stupendous heirlooms and beautiful little cherries from California, and those should keep coming into October.
Great tomatoes do not want to be fussed with. That’s why some of the most delicious things you can do with them don’t require a recipe:
• Slice them, arrange them on a plate, strew Maldon salt on them, grind black pepper generously, drizzle your best olive oil and serve with crusty bread.
• Want to get fancier? Add dollops of fresh ricotta, or slices of mozzarella, or pull apart a ball or two of burrata and arrange it on top. From there you can add torn basil, a flurry of mixed fresh herbs, or a big handful of baby arugula. If you go the arugula route, a drizzle of really good balsamic wouldn’t be a bad idea.
• Peel, seed and dice ripe tomatoes, put them in a bowl with a good dollop of great olive oil, salt, pepper and lots of torn basil, let it sit an hour or so, then use to toss with pasta. Grated parm or cubed mozzarella optional.
• BLT. This is the best time all year to eat the iconic sandwich. That slab of gorgeous red tomato with all its juices mingles meaningfully with the mayo on perfect toast, hopefully one of those sourdoughs your friend or partner has been perfecting, or good whole-wheat. Cool crunch of iceberg, chewy-crisp, salty-smoky warm bacon: This is sandwich nirvana. To get one made with the proper care and love, you’ll probably have to make it yourself. Eat it alone and enjoy every bite.
• Make a simple, beautiful, easy tomato tart: Roll out thawed frozen puff pastry, poke holes in it with a fork, cover with slices of tomato (lay them first on paper towels, salt them and let them sit a few minutes to get rid of moisture), salt, pepper, thyme leaves and crumbled goat cheese. Bake 25 minutes at 400. Slice and eat. (The full recipe appears below.)
• Invite them to the South of France — by way of Tomatoes à la Provençale. Make a filling of bread crumbs, herbs, chopped shallots, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and stuff that into half-tomatoes you’ve emptied of seeds and juice. Roast 10 or 15 minutes at 400 and eat. Here’s a link to Julia Child’s recipe, which I’ve been making my whole life.
• Blitz up a batch of Gazpacho Sevillano. Maybe you tried this in May, hoping to usher in summer, but the tomatoes weren’t quite in the mood yet. Now they are. Three pounds of tomatoes, a cuke, a red bell pepper, torn-up day old bread, Sherry vinegar, a couple or three garlic cloves put through a press, a pinch of red pepper, more salt than you think: Into the blender they go, and whirr away. Drizzle in some olive oil while the motor’s running. Some people let it chill in the fridge so the “flavors meld.” I usually can’t wait and just eat it like that, garnished with another drizzle of olive plus diced veg, especially avocado.
• Try a less common cold Spanish soup, Salmorejo, which is Córdoba’s version of gazpacho, garnished traditionally with chopped hard-boiled egg and serrano ham. Here’s a link to a recipe adapted from one by superchef José Andrés.
• When the tomatoes get ripe, the smart go chopping. Ripe tomatoes are fabulous in the chopped salad that’s ubiquitous on Levantine tables, including Palestinian ones. Cucumbers, bell peppers (red in this case), scallions, parsley, mint and serrano or jalapeño chiles, garlic and lemon join the fun. Our recipe, below, is from Falastin, the new cookbook by Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley.
Former Dallas Morning News restaurant critic Leslie Brenner, now a restaurant consultant, writes about cooking at Cooks Without Borders and about the food world at the Brenner Report.
Palestinian Chopped Salad (Salata Arabieh)
4 small Persian cucumbers or 1 large English cucumber, quartered lengthwise, seeds removed if English, and cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 large heirloom tomatoes or 6 Roma tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 or 2 serrano chiles or jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped
3 scallions, finely sliced (green and white parts)
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley (30 grams)
Rounded 1/4 cup finely shredded mint leaves (15 grams)
1 large garlic clove, crushed through a press
2 lemons: finely grate the zest to get 2 teaspoons then juice to get 3 tablespoons
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well to combine. Transfer to a serving platter or bowl or individual plates. Serve fairly soon, as it will get watery if it sits too long.
Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish.
Source: Falastin: A Cookbook by Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley
Tomato Tart with Goat Cheese and Thyme
1 pound regular-size tomatoes, sliced thin (about 1/8-inch or less)
4 ounces cherry tomatoes, sliced thin (about 1/8-inch or less)
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
One 14-ounce package frozen all-butter puff pastry, thawed
3/4 teaspoon Maldon or other flaky sea salt (or to taste)
3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
Freshly ground black pepper
Fresh thyme and/or oregano leaves
Heat the oven to 400 F. Lay the tomatoes in a single layer on paper-towel-lined sheet pans or cutting boards (you’ll probably need two). Sprinkle the fine sea salt over them and let them sit for 10 or 15 minutes so they give up some of their moisture.
While the tomatoes are weeping, gently unfold the puff pastry on a lightly floured board and use a rolling pin to roll it a bit thinner, so that it is 15 inches long and 11 inches wide. Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and use a fork to poke holes in about 12 places, avoiding a border about half an inch around the perimeter.
Use another paper towel to gently blot moisture from the top of the tomatoes. Then arrange the large tomato slices, slightly overlapping them, to cover the whole tart except for a 1/2-inch tomato-free border. Arrange the cherry tomato slices on top of them, using them to fill in gaps where necessary so that the dough is all covered. Sprinkle the tomatoes with the Maldon salt, then distribute the goat cheese on top. Season generously with black pepper, and strew the thyme and/or oregano leaves on top. (If the oregano leaves are large, you might tear them in half.)
Bake for 25 minutes, or until the crust is nicely golden brown and crisp. Do not underbake or the crust will be soggy under the tomatoes. Slice the parchment with the tart onto a cutting board, cut into pieces and serve, or serve once it is room-temperature.
Serves 8 as an appetizer, 4 to 6 as a main course.
Source: Cooks Without Borders
