Okay, now what?
Those four tiny tomato seedlings I planted in the spring have joined forces to overwhelm the garden. They’ve gotten so heavy and unruly, they’ve knocked over their wire tomato cages, have cascaded over their raised bed and are overtaking everything in their path.
The plants are so intertwined I can no longer tell where one begins and the other ends, except for the size and shape of the tomatoes. I reach for a Heritage, and out comes a cluster of cherry tomatoes; their stems are so snarled up it’s impossible to pick one at a time. So I picked a basketful of everything I could reach and got ready for a tomato binge.
I started with a basic tomato dish that happens to be my favorite summer appetizer: the classic Calabrese salad. There are a million variations on this salad that originated in Calabria in southern Italy, but tomatoes, basil, olive oil and red wine vinegar are absolute musts; mozzarella cheese is optional (according to some Italian purists), but I would never leave it out.
Calabrese Salad
Large tomatoes
Mozzarella cheese
Fresh basil
Balsamic vinaigrette.
Salt and pepper to taste
I didn’t list quantities because it depends on the size of the tomatoes and how large a salad you want to make. For an entrée size dish, slice 1-2 large tomatoes into ¼-inch slices, arrange them in an overlapping circle on a large dish and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cut mozzarella into thin slices and tuck them in between the tomato slices. Garnish with just-picked basil leaves. Drizzle with a balsamic vinaigrette, or drizzle with olive oil followed by a splash of red wine vinegar.
This, along with a demi-baguette and a glass of Chianti, is all I could ever hope for on a hot summer evening.
There are another dozen or so tomatoes still waiting for me in the kitchen, so if anyone has a recipe that uses LOTS of tomatoes (but not ketchup; I don’t like peeling and seeding tomatoes), please let me know.
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