Most people rely on the calendar to tell them when summer arrives but I use a more practical gauge: when my first Early Girl tomato turns ripe and ready to eat. Is there anything better? I’m afraid I consume more tomatoes than I have room to grow, but luckily the Napa Farmers Market and local groceries are way ahead of me in their production.
Originally from South America, the ancestor of the current tomato traveled north to Mexico and was cultivated by the Aztec. When invading Spaniards took it back to Seville, a center for international trade, it migrated to the rest of Europe where the strange fruit did not take hold.
By the late 1700s, it was feared, according to The Smithsonian Magazine: “A nickname for the fruit was the ‘poison apple’ because it was thought that aristocrats got sick and died after eating them, but the truth of the matter was that wealthy Europeans used pewter plates, which were high in lead content. Because tomatoes are so high in acidity, when placed on this particular tableware, the fruit would leach lead from the plate, resulting in many deaths from lead poisoning. No one made this connection between plate and poison at the time; the tomato was picked as the culprit.”
The tomato was also believed to be connected to the mandrake root, which was considered an aphrodisiac, and that meant the tomato was, too. The fruit acquired the great marketable name as pomme d’amour (love apple) in French and pomodoro in Italian. Eventually, the British brought the tomato to the American colonies where it slowly became popular.
Here are just a few ways you can use tomatoes to cook for comfort:
Pan con Tomate
Yes, it’s as simple as the title says: bread with tomato, but there is a trick. My wife and I saw (and ate) it everywhere during a trip to Barcelona, capital of the Catalonia region in the northeastern corner of Spain.
You might also see it on the menu as pa amb tomàquet as it’s called in Catalan (a distinct language from Spanish). Whenever you go out for tapas in Barcelona, it’s pretty much always the first dish brought out to the table. You need bread that has some strength and texture so you can rub the garlic and then the flesh of the tomato on the toasted side to form a quick topping.
Deli rolls or sourdough bread, halved the long way Unpeeled whole garlic cloves, halved 2 large ripe tomatoes, halved Extra-virgin olive oil Flaky sea salt
Toast the bread slices — slightly charred bread from the grill is my favorite, but in Spain they are usually toasted in the oven until crispy and golden.
Rub the garlic clove cut-side-down all over the toasted interior of a slice of bread.
Take a tomato half and rub it flesh-side-down all over the toasted side of the bread until you get down to the skin.
Drizzle the bread with olive oil. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and serve the slices while they’re still warm.
Tomato Bruschetta
Makes 24 small slices, serves 6 as an appetizer
This is another tasty combination of bread and tomato, this time from Italy. This is a classic that anyone who is knowledgeable enough to be reading a cooking article in this fine newspaper probably already knows. But, you can pass this along to your clueless spouse or friend, so they can enjoy lip-smacking tomatoes, too. Traditionally, bruschetta was simply toasted bread, rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil as a way of salvaging bread that was going stale. In recent years, just about everything has topped toasted bread, but this tastes like Italy to me.
2 pounds ripe heirloom tomatoes, core removed, ½-inch-diced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large garlic cloves
8 large basil leaves
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 baguette, sliced thin and grilled or toasted under the broiler
Place diced tomatoes in a colander over a bowl or in the sink. Add the salt and gently stir. Let drain for ½ hour or so.
Roll the basil leaves up and thinly slice crosswise.
Combine the tomatoes and basil in a medium bowl. Season with additional salt, to taste and gently stir in Balsamic vinegar. Spoon over toasted bread.
Pasta with No-Cook Puttanesca
Adapted from Andy Baraghani, Bon Appétit
Tomato seeds and membranes can be a bit bitter, which is why you remove them from this uncooked preparation—it also prevents the sauce from being watery. I’ve made a few additions and substitutions, so Mr. Baraghani may not want to be blamed for this, but I had never thought of a no-cook puttanesca. (If you remember, we made a cooked Puttanesca back in our pasta article on March 24. You probably cut out the article and saved it.)
2 beefsteak tomatoes (about 2 pounds), core removed, halved crosswise, seeds removed (I use a double-ended melon baller but a teaspoon will work)
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 anchovies, smashed and minced
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup olives, crushed, pits removed, cut in half
3 tablespoons drained capers
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
12 oz. bucatini, (a thick pasta with a hole running through the center. The name comes from Italian bucato or “pierced”. Sure, you can use spaghetti if you have that on hand, but we fell in love with bucatini when we were in Rome
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
Pulse beefsteak tomatoes, garlic, red pepper flakes, anchovies and salt in a food processor until smooth; transfer sauce to a large bowl and mix in cherry tomatoes, olives, capers, and 1/4 cup oil.
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 1/4 cup pasta cooking liquid.
Add pasta and butter to sauce. Toss vigorously with tongs, adding a splash of pasta cooking liquid or more as needed to create an emulsified sauce that coats pasta. Divide among bowls and drizzle with more oil and sprinkle with chopped parsley
French Tomato Tart
Keeping our collection of tomato recipes solidly in Europe, this is a rustic tart that tastes like the south of France. I have a large file cabinet stuffed with recipes (yes, I know there is a thing called the internet now, but I separate recipes and notes into files that I can find easily. And, the next time PG&E cuts power and our Wi-Fi disappears, I can still look up a recipe). Anyway, I’ve had this for so long, I don’t know where I got it but I’ve made several changes over the years.
Tart Dough
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2-3 tablespoons chilled water
9 -inch tart pan with a removable ring, butter the inside of the ring
Make the dough by mixing the flour and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture has a crumbly, cornmeal-like texture. Wisk the egg with two tablespoons of the chilled water and pulse the food processor again while adding the egg mixture until the dough holds together. If not coming together easily, add the additional tablespoon of chilled water. Form the dough into a flat disk, cover with plastic wrap and let the dough completely hydrate and relax in the refrigerator for an hour or more.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Roll the dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, adding additional flour only to keep it from sticking to the counter. Once the dough is about 10 ½ inches in diameter, lightly roll the dough around the rolling pin, then unroll into the tart pan, gently pressing dough into the bottom and sides. Trim the dough even with the rim of the tart pan by rolling the pin over the top of the pan. Use the excess dough to patch any holes in the tart. Spread an even layer of mustard over the bottom of the tart with a pastry brush and place in the refrigerator to let it sit a few minutes to dry.
Tart filling
Whole-grain mustard
2-3 large ripe tomatoes
Extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of dried oregano
Kosher salt
8 ounces goat cheese (It usually is sold as a log of 4 or 8 ounces. Use the pastry chef’s trick of using dental floss to slice it into rounds)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (I use tarragon and chives from my garden.)
When you’re ready, place the chilled tart on a half-sheet pan to make it easier to move in and out of the oven and catch any drips. Slice the tomatoes and arrange them over the mustard in a single, even layer. Drizzle the olive oil over the top, salt the tomatoes, sprinkle with dried oregano and arrange the slices of goat cheese on top and drizzle with a bit of honey.
Bake the tart for 30 minutes or so, until the dough is cooked, the tomatoes are tender and the cheese on top is nicely browned. Note: depending on your oven, this may cook the dough a little too quickly, so check it at the 15 minute mark and turn it down to 350 degrees if dough is becoming too dark before the tomatoes are cooked.
If the cheese doesn’t brown as much as you’d like it, you can brown it under the broiler until it’s right. Once the tart is done, sprinkle the fresh herbs on the top as the tart cools.
I serve this at room temperature with a salad and a glass of rosé to make me feel like I’m on the Côte d’Azur.
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July 14, 2020 at 09:00AM
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Cooking for Comfort: Tomato Time: They have been called everything from "love apple" to "poison apple" but the first home-grown ones now just say "summer" - Napa Valley Register
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