Dive into fresh, ripe tomatoes
Summer’s here, and the tomatoes are ripe. If I could, I’d fill a swimming pool with tomatoes and dive in.
Because tomatoes are at their peak right now, I decided to celebrate everyone’s favorite fruit-that-masquerades-as-a-vegetable by trying out a couple ways to use them when they are fresh.
For only the second time in my life, I made a tomato pie. And I instantly wondered why it wasn’t something I make every week throughout the summer.
If the thought of a savory tomato pie gives you pause, perhaps it is best to think of it as a quiche without all the eggs. And if you wonder how you can bake tomatoes in a pie crust without getting the crust soggy, don’t worry: These tomatoes are sliced and somewhat dried out in the oven before they are put in the pie.
But what makes this particular recipe so spectacular is the rest of the filling. It’s got bacon. It’s got sharp cheddar cheese. It’s got mayonnaise and Dijon mustard and one egg, to bind everything together. It’s got garlic and shallots and basil and chives, and after you’ve baked it it’s got even more basil and chives.
And all of that goodness is served in a pie crust with ripe tomatoes. Just thinking about it makes me sigh contentedly.
Also delicious are the somewhat misnamed Sizzling Broiled Tomatoes With Herbs.
They are not actually made with herbs, other than maybe some basil in the vinaigrette. But they are awfully good, a better version of stuffed tomatoes, which my mother used to make when I was young.
The dish is just tomato halves topped with breadcrumbs and then broiled, but two steps make it so much better than ordinary versions.
One is that the cut tomatoes are first spread with a vinaigrette. Its bright, fresh, slightly acidic taste is just what a tomato needs, and forms an inviting bed for the breadcrumbs.
The other step involves these same breadcrumbs. Instead of merely being sprinkled on top of the tomato (or in this case, tomato and vinaigrette), they are first sautéed in butter and then sprinkled on top. As it always does, a little butter makes all the difference in the world.