Savoring the last of summer’s tomatoes
Natural daylight has changed. I call it Tuscan light because it reminds me of clear, fall days in Italy and tells me that the waning days of my vegetable garden are here. Such is the sad case with my tomato crop. The meaty, plum Redorta types have given their all and only a few stragglers remain to tease me. The yellow cherry tomatoes have long since passed and the piennolo del Vesuvio, my very favorite, is still clinging to the vine.
I am doing as much as I can with the last of the tomatoes, drying some, freezing some, using a lot in salads and sandwiches (I ate my fair share of BLT’s) and cooking them into tomato sauce. I made scores of tomato bruschetta too, with gorgeous thick slices of country bread slathered with rich and creamy ricotta cheese seasoned with olive oil, salt and coarse black pepper. Sliced cherry tomatoes were tossed in olive oil, vinegar, salt, basil and parsley and heaped on top of the ricotta cheese.
When everyone eats in silence, you know you are onto something. If only garden tomatoes could carry us through winter … how short a winter it would seem. Enjoy them before they become just a memory!