TASTY TIME OF YEAR

Turn garden grown tomatoes into a meal

Now that garden grown tomatoes are ripening on their vines, one of the most delicious of all Northeast Ohio seasons has begun.

With the possible exception of strawberries, there is nothing, but nothing, quite as wonderful as tomatoes still warm from the garden. I love them best in thick slices on a pretty plate sprinkled with a little sea salt and drizzled with good Spanish olive oil and a dash of Balsamic vinegar.

I shred a little basil over them as an accent and, if I want to make a meal from it, I slice fresh mozzarella cheese over the tomatoes and call it lunch.

I’ll be making cold Gazpacho to take to a picnic with friends later this week, but today I’m sharing a recipe for Tomato Gratin that I made last week with tomatoes from my friend Lynn’s garden.

She gave me a bag of huge Beefsteak tomatoes and some lovely green Atomic Grape tomatoes that were tasty and ripe despite their color. She also shared today’s wonderful recipe.

We’d spent the afternoon in Ohio’s wine country with a stop at my friend Patrick’s red roadside hut where he sells baguettes and other French breads. He has a day job so is open only Saturdays and Sundays on Route 307, just west of Harpersfield Vineyard.

I bought crepes and a couple of baguettes. One baguette makes four cups of bread pieces needed for the gratin recipe. They definitely add to its deliciousness.

Lynn has adapted the original recipe slightly, but it comes from America’s Test Kitchen and was originally published last year on Aug. 18 in this newspaper.

Try it. You’ll like it. If any is left over, brown more bread pieces in oil to place on the top when you reheat it. Sprinkle parmesan over it, and the top will again become crisp when it’s heated.

JANET PODOLAK FOR THE NEWS-HERALD To make a delicious tomato gratin, pieces of baguette torn into ¾-inch pieces, are first browned then submerged as they are cooked with ripe tomatoes, also cut into ¾-inch pieces.